The Slayer & the sleuths
by Mad Kat
Summary: A.U. B/A fic, Angel runs A.I. with a few friends, Buffy visits... (Rating may go up)
1. Babysitters

You know the drill: Not mine. Never was, never will be blah, blah.  
  
Before I kick off my new fic I just want to say a huge thank you to the nice people who reviewed my last two fics - 'Someone to watch over her' and 'Changes' It means a lot that people read them and liked them, I've no immediate plans for sequels or continuations of them but if I get an idea that I think doesn't suck too badly I might try and write some more.  
  
Anyway, here's my newest B/A effort that I aim to have completed within the next two weeks; hope you like it!  
  
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"Hey Doyle, I think I located the nest," Angel announced.  
  
"Good mornin' to you too Angel," Doyle grinned as he strolled through the doorway of Angel investigations and perched onto the edge Cordelia's desk, "Mornin' Love," he added leaning over to give her a brief kiss and one of the Starbucks cups he carried. With a smile of thanks Cordelia accepted the cup and turned back to the computer.  
  
"So, the nest?" Doyle queried.  
  
"Yeah, it's an old abandoned building about four miles from here, lots of sewer access too. It's perfect for demons to hole up in undisturbed but they're still close enough to humans for whatever they're planning."  
  
"Which, ideally we need to know before the cavalry charges in," Cordelia added with a meaningful look at Angel.  
  
Angel looked innocent.  
  
"Ahh, man what have you done now?"  
  
"I killed it before it got away and back into the nest," Angel defended himself.  
  
Cordelia snorted, "Yeah, just. You need a baby-sitter sometimes Angel."  
  
Angel opened his mouth to argue and Doyle hastily interrupted the disagreement that seemed to be brewing, "Actually, speaking of baby-sitters my mom called this morning. Y' know I told you guys that she's getting married again?" Two heads nodded. "Well her ex-husband was supposed to be looking after my kid sister while she's away on her honeymoon for the summer but at the last minute he's said he can't and has to go to Spain for most of the summer on business. So mom was wondering if she could stay here with me."  
  
Angel was about to gently disagree when Wesley walked in and loudly did it for him. "Don't be ridiculous Doyle! We can't possibly just insert a teenage girl into the middle of this office and expect business to go on as usual with her conveniently noticing nothing!"  
  
Who's the boss here? Wondered Angel resentfully, still sore from yesterday when Wesley had exhibited superior knowledge about some demon breeding habits and made him look a fool. To his surprise he found himself siding with Doyle though he knew Wesley was probably right.  
  
"I don't see a problem with her staying really," he said quietly.  
  
Doyle smiled gratefully, "Cheers man, she's not a bad kid really, she shouldn't be too much trouble."  
  
"What do you mean?" Angel muttered, "Not a bad kid really."  
  
Doyle frowned, "Well, it was all stress from her mom and dad splitting up."  
  
"What did she do?" Angel managed between gritted teeth, watching Wesley smirk to himself as Angel got himself into a sticky mess.  
  
"Well, she got expelled for burning down her high school gym, and then she was in trouble for assaulting a police officer, and then she blew up the Chemistry Lab at her new school and trashed her mother's car." Doyle caught Angel's glare and hastily ended his recital of his sister's wrongs, "Well, that's all in the past anyway. She's fine now."  
  
"Uh Huh." Angel mentally cursed himself, what had he landed them with? "Okay Doyle she can stay, but any trouble and she goes off to summer camp or something," He turned to Wesley and Cordelia, "I mean, she's a teenage girl she'll be shopping or something, not hanging around here all the time. I think it'll be fine." I hope, he added to himself. 


	2. Last night at the Bronze

Buffy seated herself alone at a table in the Bronze with a scowl on her face as she viciously stirred her enormous steaming mug of vanilla flavoured coffee until it slopped onto the table and cursing she had to mop it up before her trendy pale blue dress got gross brown splatter-marks.  
  
She glared into the mug, at the door and back again. This was her last night in Sunnydale for the whole summer before they were all going to college or work, how could the gang be late like this?  
  
But really she brooded, it was entirely her mom's fault for getting married and disappearing into the sunset for a wonderful honeymoon tour. But put like that she sounded sour and jealous, which she kind of was. How come her mom met the gorgeous (for an old guy), wealthy sweetie and rode off into the sunset. She was the totally boyfriend-less very available teenager here, when was it her turn already?  
  
But technically she could put most of the blame on her dad for the complete ruination of her summer; that made her sound less mean. He was supposed to be keeping an eye on her for the summer but instead was disappearing off to Spain to boink his latest secretary, uhrgh; even her dad had more of a love life than her. So she was left to stay with Doyle her older half brother. Both Doyle and her dad lived in LA but the difference was that she knew if she pointed out that she was eighteen and if she bugged her dad enough, he'd let her go home to Sunnydale after about a week but if she tried it with Doyle he would probably just shrug and ignore her and she'd still be stuck in LA with nothing to do but shop and slay.  
  
What was up with the world suddenly? All that parental concern seemed so sudden. Her mom had left her alone before and that was when she was only sixteen. But that had only been for a few days she admitted honestly, she probably hadn't been willing to risk leaving the house in Buffy's hands for months on end just in case Buffy had a wild party, probably with marauding zombies and there was nothing left to come home to. So she was stuck with Doyle and whatever weirdoes he was currently associating with.  
  
She smiled slightly, she hadn't seen much of Doyle for years, he had visited them occasionally and they kept in touch with e-mail and over the phone but she hadn't really visited him for about three years. She wondered if he was still friends with the utterly drool worthy guy he had been hanging out with a few years ago. She closed her eyes and thought of how tasty the dark haired, dark eyed guy had been. Doyle had introduced him as Angel and he had briefly nodded hello before moving away somewhere else but Buffy had hardly been able to peel her eyes off him. "Nah stupid," she muttered, that guy had to have been in his mid twenties then, he'd be at least thirty by now, probably married with kids. But she couldn't resist it and dug into her purse for the photo, supposedly she had wanted it because it was a nice one of her and Doyle (Actually Doyle looked pretty scary in it, with red eyes and a wobbly bluish tinge) but really it was because Angel had also been in the photo looking very yummy. She shook her head sadly; she was a sad case, lusting after a guy she'd met for a couple of hours five years ago and said about two words to.  
  
"Hey there Buffy how are you doing there all by yourself?" drawled a voice.  
  
She glanced up to see Carl McBride smirking down at her, and probably down her cleavage as well. He was the biggest player for miles around and he had been trying it on with her forever. Wonderful.  
  
Then she remembered that it wasn't high school anymore and she didn't need to be even marginally polite to a guy she would probably never see again after tonight. "Hi Carl," she smiled sweetly, "I was very lonely by myself."  
  
At this his smile stretched and he reached for the chair beside her.  
  
But Buffy moved faster, one hand gripped the chair in place and the other raised her coffee mug, "But being by myself still beat your slimy company and if you dare to sit down and harass me I will give you a hot coffee facial!"  
  
Carl fled just as Willow and Xander arrived to prise the mug out of her fingers before she squeezed it to pieces. Xander massaged her shoulders as Willow moved the mug out of reach.  
  
"Wow, very tense over here Buff, I thought you were going to waste good coffee on giving that creep a bath."  
  
"It would've been a public service Xand." Grumbled Buffy motioning for Willow to return her coffee as Anya possessively prised Xander's hands away from her shoulders.  
  
Oz seated himself beside her with a nod and Willow crawled comfortably into his lap, Anya and Xander were enjoying a low voiced argument interspersed with sloppy kisses. Buffy looked from couple to couple. Yep she was definitely green and hairy tonight! On second thoughts maybe LA wasn't such a bad idea for a little while, she'd just have to work out how to get sent home after a week or two. 


	3. Lost

"How can he be gone?!" screamed Cordelia as she sobbed against Angel's chest, for good measure she battered him with her fists too. "How?!"  
  
Angel winced as his super powerful vampire hearing was shot to pieces by Cordelia's apparently super powerful screaming. "I don't know," he managed to choke out, "one moment he was there and then I looked back and he was gone! Without a sound I might add."  
  
"Ohhhh! He's dead isn't he, they're going to send us little pieces of him in boxes."  
  
"Cordy, calm down, we don't know anything right now."  
  
She hiccupped and glared at him, managing to look imposing even with a blotchy face and runny nose.  
  
"But he has vanished, that in itself cannot be a good sign Angel, even you must admit that." Wesley added. Then as he saw Cordelia's face crumple and her mouth suck in more air he hastily scrambled to amend his statement, "Though of course it is highly possible that whatever took him, if indeed he was taken does not mean him any harm, In fact I'm quite sure he'll er, turn up sooner or later." He scurried for the safety of the office library, calling over his shoulder, "In fact, I think I should be researching this right now."  
  
Angel gave Cordelia a gentle shake, "Actually, Wes is right Cordy; I think he may have been trying to squirm away from your screeching but essentially he was right. Although Doyle's disappearance isn't a good thing it could still be nothing and we shouldn't panic until we know more."  
  
At this Cordelia seemed to calm down very slightly before her eyes flew wide with horror, "But Angel! Doyle's sister arrives tomorrow morning! What the hell do we tell her? Maybe 'Hey! We're your brother's friends, but he's not around right now because Angel mislaid him in a sewer and something nasty has probably eaten him by now!' this is awful!" she sobbed, hurrying away up the stairs.  
  
Angel stood like a statue in the foyer of the Hyperion for a good five minutes after that pronouncement. He had completely forgotten about Buffy and her planned arrival in their lives. What the hell could he tell her? He collapsed behind the reception desk to consider his options.  
  
His first impulse was to call her and say that she couldn't possibly come to stay because he'd had to send Doyle away on an urgent case but then he realized he didn't have her phone number and besides her mom was already away and she was already in LA with her dad for a night or two before coming to stay at the Hyperion when he jetted off to Spain.  
  
Even if he could find her to ask her not to come she wouldn't have anywhere else to go and he couldn't pack the kid off home to Sunnydale by herself. What was she anyway? Fourteen? Maybe fifteen? Much too young to be left alone for months anyway he decided firmly.  
  
Eventually after another ten minutes brooding he decided to let her stay and tell her Doyle was working deep cover in a very unpleasant case that would take a few weeks. He forced himself to consider the unthinkable, and decided that if Doyle didn't come back by then, then he would have to tell her he'd vanished on the case and could realistically be dead. Satisfied with his decision he went to join Wesley with the books, if his friend were still alive he would research and hunt and kill until he found him. 


	4. Arrival

Buffy slumped in the backseat of her dad's shiny new car trying to ignore the irritating chattering of his pea-brained companion who wasn't that much older than herself. She was fighting a burning desire to remove yesterday's socks from her bag beside her, lean forwards and stuff them forcefully into the idiot's mouth.  
  
She hadn't been able to sleep last night which had put her in a far from pleasant mood. In desperation, wanting to burn off some energy she had dressed for the night and sneaked off to do a bit of slaying. When she had returned just after sunrise her dad had already been awake and preparing coffee, she'd quietly gone away again to buy fresh croissants and bagels before arriving noisily pretending she must have just nipped out before he got up. That put an end to thoughts of going back to bed or getting changed as her dad had delightedly wanted to catch up and despite his status as most pathetic father of all time she had softened and sat chatting and munching quite happily until darling Stephanie had showed up.  
  
The car pulled in to the kerb and she looked up from her sulk to see a very imposing hotel-like building beside them. Doyle lives and works there? Buffy was impressed, the building looked pretty cool.  
  
Too bad about her being dressed in black leather boots, black leather pants, black silk blouse and long black leather duster, her long blonde hair swept out of the way with a black hair clip. She looked cool but also as if she was about to make trouble, a look that never failed to make her brother give her funny glances and keep his beady eyes on her. Doyle was clearly happier with un-predatory, sweet and fluffy looking Buffy. Well too bad, troublesome looking Buffy was here.  
  
She climbed out of the car and unloaded her luggage onto the sidewalk assisted by her father who struggled with even the lightest of her cases. She pretended to struggle too so as not to appear too freaky.  
  
"Hank honey if we don't go now we'll miss our flight," the bimbo called in a sugary voice.  
  
Hank turned nervously to Buffy still surrounded by luggage on the doorstep of the Hyperion, "Can you manage sweetheart? I'm sure Doyle will come out and help you."  
  
"Go dad, I'll be fine, have a good trip."  
  
Hank Summers was easily persuaded and with a final hug he leapt into his car and sped away with a brief wave.  
  
Buffy poked her head into the lobby; there was nobody anywhere to be seen. Typical.  
  
She gathered up most of her bags effortlessly and tossed them through the door saving her heavy weaponry trunk until last. When she heaved it through the door it slid down the inner steps to land at the feet of Doyle's gorgeous friend Angel.  
  
She almost licked her lips and drooled openly, he was gorgeous; possibly more gorgeous than she remembered and did he ever have a presence, the guy positively oozed sex appeal that her thirteen-year old self had either not noticed or simply not fully appreciated.  
  
Strangely though he didn't look any older than he had in the photograph stashed in her purse, her heart leapt, perhaps he wasn't as old as she'd originally thought he was and it was only now that he was in his mid- twenties which would make him much more Doyle's age, and more within her league - yeah right! But a girl could dream. She gave him the full benefit of her best smile and took a step down towards him.  
  
He frowned down at her heap of baggage before glancing up at her looking puzzled.  
  
"Can I help you miss?" he inquired. 


	5. Welcome to the Hyperion

Wesley, Angel and Cordelia had been gathered together in the library poring over books, manuscripts and websites that might help them in their quest to find Doyle, preferably alive. When Angel's keener ears heard a faint thud and a slithering noise. He excused himself to check things out and strolled into the lobby to find a small heap of bags and cases at the bottom of the stairs. As he examined this new development the door was opened and a large chest shot down the steps to land at his feet, he looked up to see a stunningly beautiful young woman dressed almost entirely in tight black leather.  
  
Then she smiled.  
  
For a brief moment the world stopped turning, he forgot his troubles and his guilt and was simply a man admiring a lovely woman before giving himself a mental shake and asking her politely what she wanted.  
  
She grinned, "You're Angel right?"  
  
"Yes? And you are?"  
  
She looked hurt, "What? Didn't Doyle tell you that I got landed here? Duh! I'll kill him. I'm Buffy his sister and as you can see I've come to stay. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."  
  
Angel was struck dumb, the helpless kid with a few problems he had envisaged had not materialised. Instead he was facing a self-assured, undoubtedly troublesome, leather-clad goddess. She certainly wasn't the helpless fourteen or fifteen year old he had imagined.  
  
"I'll show you to your room," he managed eventually, chivalrously scooping up her larger bags as he spoke. That left Buffy with the trunk and three much smaller bags, picking them up she followed him upstairs admiring the fact that he carried her really heavy bags without staggering or moaning one little bit. Xander had insisted on helping her when she had packed and had staggered, whinged and then made a production of rolling on the floor complaining.  
  
The muscles in Angel's powerful arms bulged deliciously as he juggled cases to push open a door that led into a simple but really nice and quite feminine room.  
  
Buffy followed happily tossing the light bags on the bed and slamming the heavy trunk gratefully down just inside the door, this wasn't turning out so bad after all.  
  
Angel put her luggage down gently on the floor at the end of the king size bed, more bonus points she noted, he didn't toss her stuff around as if it was made of unbreakable rubber or something.  
  
"I hope you've got everything you need, if not then you can find me in my office downstairs or in my apartment down the hall to your left okay? Sorry to abandon you but we've got a bit of a crisis on an important case." Angel told her as he gazed absently at her slender, lightly muscled legs tightly encased in leather.  
  
Angel forced himself to drag his stare away and prepared himself to lie to her. He raised his head to look her in the eyes, and discovered that they were a gorgeous sparkling hazel, he stumbled into his lie unable to tear his eyes from hers, "The case is one that Doyle is involved with and I hate to tell you but he's in deep cover and won't be back here for a week or maybe even two. I'm really sorry to screw up the start of your summer Buffy but the job came up and really needed to be done. Doyle was really the only one suitable for it." With this hopefully convincing little speech delivered Angel forced himself to smile slightly and left the room quickly and quietly, deeply shaken by the unexpected beauty of his missing best friend's kid sister, a friend that would probably stake him if he had a clue about Angel's thoughts on the subject of Buffy.  
  
Buffy pouted slightly as she closed the door behind the luscious Angel, no Doyle meant a certain lack of entertainment, though she supposed doing some slaying in LA wouldn't go amiss, or she admitted to herself a little studying about different demons. For years she had just slain anything that came with the label 'demon' It took her two best friend's choices in honeys and an interesting discovery about her brother to cause her to rethink her slay first, avoid questions later approach to her slaying gig.  
  
Ever since she had become the slayer Buffy had increasingly felt that there was something slightly strange about Doyle whenever she got close to him. Not bad strange like when vampires were nearby, just strange. It had taken her three and a half years to come up with the idea that the reason he gave her odd vibes was because he was demon or part demon. A chance glimpse of him sneezing when he thought he was alone cemented her suspicions. Then with Willow becoming a practising wicca and dating a werewolf and Xander falling for an ex-vengeance demon Buffy had rethought her violent approach to anything weird, it wouldn't exactly hurt her to learn to identify the commonest breeds of totally harmless demons, after all; slaying the innocent wasn't something she wanted to make a career of. She also wanted to be able to prove her non-violent intentions to Doyle with some real knowledge when she finally approached him to talk about his demonic nature.  
  
Once she had unpacked all her clothes and arranged all her toiletries in the en-suite bathroom she was sorely tempted to wander downstairs to drool over Angel but it was clear that he was busy. She opened her heavy trunk that she had shunted against the end of the bed and pulled out a couple of books Giles had joyfully leant to her, thrilled that she planned to do some reading up on his favourite topic. But the incredibly thick stash of guilt money presented to her by her dad called to her and with a sigh she tossed aside the books and scooped up her purse, books could wait - she was going shopping. 


	6. Shopping spree

Angel was just finished gathering a few weapons into a bag ready to leave the Hyperion at sunset to follow what he hoped would prove to be a lead about Doyle when Buffy staggered through the door laden with a terrific amount of what seemed to be largely designer shopping bags. A very different Buffy to the one from earlier, she was every inch a cute, popular schoolgirl now in a small white dress trimmed in pink, with shoes, purse and lipstick in the same bubble gum shades. The severely slicked and clipped hair of earlier now swirled around her shoulders in thick blonde waves.  
  
She beamed at him and tried to wave dropping half the shopping in the process. "Hi Angel!" she chirped happily as she deliberately dropped the rest and stepped over it to flop onto the corner of the desk he had sat down at hoping to hide his reaction to her dangerously short skirt.  
  
"So how's the case going?" she asked, innocently leaning towards him unwittingly giving him another reason to be unable to move away.  
  
He tore his eyes away from enticing golden skin and the shadow between her breasts and focused on her conversation, reminding himself that she was only being friendly and would run screaming if she knew what he truly was, "Uh, okay. I may finally have a decent lead to follow."  
  
"So I could get my big brother back to torment sooner rather than later?" she grinned mischievously.  
  
Angel smiled back, not wanting to raise her hopes too much, "Could be."  
  
"Cool." She hopped off the desk and bent to begin scooping her haphazardly scattered heap of purchases off the steps and into some kind of order. "Just so no potential clients walk in and break their necks on my shopping," she explained not seeming to hear his strangled moan as her skirt all but vanished when she bent over. "Y' know," she muttered "I spent and spent on the most expensive shoes imaginable, had a completely over- priced but delicious lunch and I still have over eighty percent of the guilt money Dad gave me this morning. Plus the allowance mom gave me I could probably shop like this once a week for the rest of the summer."  
  
"Guilt money?" Angel questioned with interest, her dad had sounded pretty selfish when Doyle had briefly described him and he was curious to know more about how it might relate to this cute girl being driven to burn buildings and trash cars.  
  
Apparently satisfied with her piling of bags she bounded back to her seat on the corner of his desk and began rummaging in her tiny purse, she paused and eyed him cautiously, "I'm not unsettling and distracting you am I?" she asked him seriously, "If you're busy I can go away."  
  
Was she ever distracting! But she looked so hopeful he couldn't tell her to push off and truthfully he didn't actually have anything to do. Even if she would only ever be a fantasy he liked being around her, soaking up her innocence and sweetness. "No, there's not much I can do for a little while, you're okay. What did you mean by guilt money?"  
  
She found what she had been looking for and offered it, "Lollipop?"  
  
He shook his head and cringed as she unwrapped one for herself with a shrug and began delicately licking it with a very pink tongue. He gritted his teeth as she sucked it into her mouth with a cute pout; he was thinking thoughts that he really should not be thinking.  
  
She considered, "well, he hands out money and goodies whenever he thinks he's done something wrong and feels bad, hence, guilt money for Buffy to compensate."  
  
"What did he do this time to merit so much money? I mean, I'm counting quite a few designer labels and I know some of those really don't come cheap thanks to shopping sprees I've gone on with Cordelia - that's Doyle's girlfriend by the way. A bossy, well-dressed brunette who I expect you'll meet at some point."  
  
Buffy grunted, "He feels bad this time because he promised I could stay with him for the summer but changed his mind at the last minute because his new girlfriend wanted to be boinked in Spain for a change."  
  
Angel blinked in surprise.  
  
Buffy grinned wickedly, "He didn't say that of course but I can read between the lines."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Yeah, oh." Buffy slid off the desk feeling dumb for crawling about on Angel's desk sounding like a shoppaholic bimbo resentful of her dad's girlfriend, probably disrupting his important case. "Anyway, I expect you have better things to do than listen to me whinge, I'm gonna go, take my shopping out of the way and let you get on."  
  
Angel was about to protest when he realized the sun had almost completely set, "Actually I should be getting on now, but it was good to talk to you. Do you need a hand with the bags?"  
  
Buffy was about to accept and repeat the pleasurable experience of the morning when she recalled the contents of a few of the bags and remembered the books she had left dumped on her bed, he'd be sure to think she was nuts if he saw them and she'd ruin her probably already non-existent chance with him for sure.  
  
"I think I can manage thanks Angel, talk to you tomorrow maybe?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Angel, are you still there?" called Wesley from his office before appearing in the doorway.  
  
"Was just on my way out, what's up Wes?"  
  
Wesley's eyes rotated from the book he held to Angel, to Buffy and her heap of bags and back to Angel. "Uh, hello, Ms Summers I presume?"  
  
Buffy sauntered over with a smile, she held out a hand, "Pleased to meet you Wes, call me Buffy please."  
  
Wesley shook hands a little awkwardly seemingly trying to hide the cover of the old book he held, Buffy's sharp eyes caught most of the title anyway 'Rites and rituals of the Quaaz- something' Buffy released his hand and stepped away smiling, "Nice to meet any friend or colleague of Doyle's, I'm sure you're all really busy, and I know I'm delaying Angel so I'll get my shopping and be out of the way. I might even get an early night and do a bit of reading. See you tomorrow I expect."  
  
With that she gathered her bags with difficulty and trotted upstairs as fast as her high heels would carry her.  
  
When they heard the slam of Buffy's door Wesley turned to Angel, "Hmm, she doesn't seem so bad, and politely going to bed to read to be out of the way too."  
  
Angel resisted the temptation to roll his eyes, but then if he hadn't seen the sleeker, leather clad version earlier he would've unquestioningly believed that Buffy really was one hundred percent sweet and innocent. "What's with the book?" he asked moving towards Wesley's office.  
  
Wes followed and seated himself at the desk, "Nothing much yet, just an idea. I think it is very likely that Doyle is being held hostage until a certain alignment of stars at which time the Quaazberoon demons will make a certain number of half-blood sacrifices to give them some great power. I haven't yet finished my research but that is the gist of it."  
  
"So Doyle is safe until this particular alignment takes place?"  
  
"It seems very likely. Though I wouldn't really like to say for sure."  
  
"It's all we have so we'll have to believe it, will you concentrate on finding when this will take place?"  
  
"I thought I would yes, do you agree?"  
  
Angel grinned feeling more hopeful now, "Absolutely Wes, great work." He swept out snatching up his weapons bag missing Wesley's proud flush as he settled back with his books. 


	7. Armed and ready

Buffy finally fell through her bedroom door and dropped the bags again. It wasn't really the weight that presented a problem, just the sheer volume of bags she had amassed.  
  
Kicking off her sandals she began dividing up the bags, a lot of it was clothes or shoes which she had found irresistible and making a mental note to keep most of it locked safely away from demon claws and vampire dust until she got back to Sunnydale she climbed onto the bed with the rest of the bags.  
  
Each of the gang would be getting something from her LA trip; she was planning one serious present and one gag gift. Willow already had some Wicca goodies, Giles would get a couple of gruesome yet interesting looking books and Oz had new and very strong enchanted chains for his wolf time that should give him greater peace of mind.  
  
She had also treated herself to a simply gorgeous new crossbow with matching knives and sword. There had even been a small axe and spiked knuckledusters that matched. So she had gleefully splurged a vast amount of dollars on acquiring the set. It was all in wickedly beautiful black finished metal with a small amount of swirling silver detail work. Even the bolts for the crossbow were black with tiny silver swirls, personalised with the initial 'S' which could stand for either Summers or Slayer and presented in a black and silver pouch, all in all Buffy was delighted and itching to try her beautiful, deadly new acquisitions out on the demons of LA; the dangerous ones anyway.  
  
Carefully putting her peculiar souvenirs for her buds out of sight in her weapons chest she scrabbled for her diary, also residing out of sight in the chest. Before she forgot she scribbled down the partial title of the book Wes had been holding, it had sounded a lot like something Giles might have in his own collection. She hadn't really considered that Doyle's friends knew about his demon nature but she supposed it made sense that they would, after all her friends knew she was the Slayer. So perhaps they knew about demons generally and actually had a supernatural case that they had been researching, or then again Wes just might have really weird taste in bedtime stories. Abandoning that fruitless thought process and making a mental note to call Giles about the book and do some snooping sometime she began sorting out clothes for a night out slaying.  
  
Buffy dressed to kill in black leather again, this time with a newly purchased and very sexy red velvet halter-neck top she was unable to resist dragging out of her bags even after a long internal argument (It looks really cool/What if a demon dies on it?). The crossbow was stowed in a small black leather bag along with extra stakes and a crucifix that Buffy planned to paint black when she had the time. The knives were tucked into her belt and boots; slipping another stake into her sleeve she eyed her reflection in the floor length mirror with satisfaction, with a knuckleduster tucked into her pocket she was ready for the hunt. 


	8. Bad Buffy!

Thank you everyone who reviewed, it keeps the writer's block at bay and makes me write faster.  
  
I've had a request for Fred, Gunn, Spike, Faith and the Scooby gang to be in the story, hmm. Not sure if I can manage all of that as I kind of vaguely have this story planned out. Would a sequel with the slayer and the sleuths having a new adventure with all those guys do?  
  
Oh and Doyle and Buffy have the same mom; guess I didn't make that too clear. Buffy just hasn't figured out how to approach the subject with either of them yet. Explode to her friends yes, talk rationally to her family no! Hope that clears that up.  
  
Anyway, on with the show!  
  
* * * *  
  
Buffy yawned widely before turning over and snuggling back under the covers. She dozed happily for sometime before the growling of her stomach forced her out of bed to shower and get ready for a food hunt.  
  
Although her patrol through the LA streets hadn't been very fruitful the night before she had got into one very big and somewhat unexpected fight with a vampire that had proved quite exhausting. He had apparently been a double-jointed, karate expert when alive or something like that anyway. He'd given her a workout she hadn't expected. "Must be getting sloppy," she grunted to herself. Probably too used to all the weedy, pathetic newbies she ran into at home.  
  
Much to her disgust he had actually managed to jump out at her before she had even processed the fact a vampire was around, in her surprise she had been knocked onto her butt and ended up dropping her weapons bag out of reach, eventually staking him with the trusty Mr Pointy. Then when she had got her shiny new weapons out to play it was like a demon evacuation had occurred; maybe they were all vacationing at the hell mouth or something. Shaking her head in disgust she finished drying her hair and tied it back in a very chic twist she could never usually achieve without hours of effort. She smiled smugly, the distress caused by unused weaponry fading as she realised looking good across the breakfast table from Angel wasn't out of the question.  
  
A little later a clean and very hungry Buffy bounded downstairs dressed in a simple yet very cool designer dress and shoes. It looked a million dollars without actually looking as if it had cost a million dollars. Buffy smiled as she smoothed the skirt, this understated look of designer elegance was really growing on her. She only hoped it grew on Angel.  
  
She followed the faint but delicious smell of freshly brewed coffee into the kitchen. A beautiful brunette stood beside the table with a coat and bag clearly getting ready to leave, this must be Doyle's girlfriend Cordelia. With a small smile Buffy entered the kitchen.  
  
First impressions on both sides were favourable. Both girls admired the other's clothes and Cordelia laughingly wished that Doyle had shared Buffy's knack for knowing how to dress; which prompted Buffy to tell the story of the occasion Doyle had borrowed some of their mother's clothes for an impersonation of her. Both girls laughed at that story before Cordelia announced that she had to leave for an audition for a shampoo commercial and told Buffy she'd find Angel downstairs in the garage fixing his car and to ask him for breakfast.  
  
When Cordelia left Buffy sat for a moment staring at the coffee the other girl had poured her then finished the mug and went in search of Angel, and breakfast of course.  
  
She found him, or at least his legs sticking out from under a stylish black convertible. As she watched he shunted out from under the car slightly and felt around for a tool, her mouth dried, he was shirtless and the low slung loose waistband of his pants gaped slightly revealing a narrow trail of hair that grew up towards his neat innie belly button but didn't quite reach it.  
  
She stood still for a good minute wondering if she could fit her hand inside the waistband of his pants and what he'd do if she did. Probably sit up and bean himself she admitted, which wouldn't endear her to him, but really; a guy that hot lying around in nothing but combat boots and a pair of loose pants, he was just asking for trouble!  
  
Eventually the snarling of her stomach won over her lusty thoughts and she cleared her throat slightly and said "Angel?"  
  
He promptly wriggled out from under the car and half-smiled up at her, "Hey Buffy. Did you sleep okay? Do you want breakfast yet?"  
  
Buffy shook off rude thoughts about being sat on top of him when he wriggled like that and smiled widely at him, "I slept great thanks and would cheerfully kill for some breakfast right now."  
  
Angel nodded, and gracefully stood up, the play of his muscles and the width of his bare shoulders rendering Buffy incapable of speech, "This way to the food." He teased, turning towards the stairs.  
  
Buffy followed, trying not to trip over her own tongue, the guy wasn't just a hottie; he was The hottie! 


	9. Kitchen capers

"Uhmmm," Buffy licked the last dribble of chocolate sauce from her fork and sat back with a sigh of contentment. "That was wonderful Angel, you'll have to show me how to cook those so I can tell my mom how when I go home."  
  
Angel gave her one of his trademark half smiles and loaded her plate and cutlery into the half full dishwasher before pouring them both more coffee. "It's not really hard and actually, in truth, pancakes with chocolate sauce, scrambled eggs and hamburgers are about all I can cook successfully. My attempts at everything else vary, so don't be too impressed."  
  
"But I am impressed, particularly as I'm the only person I know that can even ruin cereal someone who can cook even one very good thing becomes my newest hero."  
  
Angel quirked an eyebrow and gave her his faint little smile again, "How exactly do you ruin cereal?"  
  
"Well, one time I poured really stale milk on it," she paused thoughtfully, "actually it was more than once, try half a dozen times!"  
  
Angel wrinkled his nose.  
  
"But I finally got banned from the kitchen when I put the cereal box too close to the stove and ended up with flambéed Cheerios! I ruined four dishcloths trying to smother that little blaze."  
  
Angel smiled; she was so impossibly cute. He wished he could tell her not to be ashamed of how terrible her cooking was on the grounds that he didn't eat anyway and that he was probably one of few guys in the world who would very happily get involved with a totally disastrous cook.  
  
She smiled happily at him and waved her coffee mug expressively, "Thus the lesson is never eat anything food-like that Buffy has had a hand in making."  
  
Angel looked at her semi-serious expression and promised her honestly, "I promise never ever to eat anything you have cooked and will make you breakfast every morning until you're sick of it if you like."  
  
Buffy grinned, "Somehow, I think I get the better end of that deal." Damn this guy was great! Not only was he gorgeous, strong, considerate and had a cool car he actually cooked! Amazing.  
  
"Remember I only cook pancakes, eggs and hamburgers, it's not ideal for months worth of breakfasts!"  
  
"Sounds pretty perfect to me." Buffy answered truthfully as she gazed at him, yep, he was perfect all right. Which was so not a good thing.  
  
Angel offered her more coffee as he padded across the kitchen giving her a wonderful view of all his taut muscles and an indecently cool tattoo. She drooled. Why couldn't he have some tiny imperfection, he might seem normal then and she would have far less competition. If she even made the competition as an outside chance that was.  
  
Suddenly she wondered if he had a girlfriend, one hadn't been mentioned and there were no visible signs but that didn't mean much. Hmm, how to nose into his girlfriend status without coming on as unhinged or excessively interested? That was one to ponder, subtlety was called for and Angel with all that muscle and bare skin on display made Buffy feel very unsubtle.  
  
Telling herself firmly that she had ages to suss out Angel as a potential boyfriend she began asking him questions about his job, hobbies, friends, how he'd met Doyle and any other inoffensive questions she could come up with. He answered most of them good naturedly as they sat comfortably in the kitchen, occasionally firing off a question of his own, usually about school, her friends or Doyle. Two hours passed as they talked, and as they talked they emptied the entire gigantic coffee pot until Buffy realized just how jittery the swamp of caffeine was making her and pushed away her last half cupful with a grimace.  
  
Angel pulled a face and followed suit, "I'll be awake for days now." He said ruefully.  
  
"Yeah, me too."  
  
Angel stood up and stretched, "I'm sorry to break this up but I need to have my car fixed by tonight and although I think I can see the problem that needs to be fixed, I'm not totally sure of how much longer it's gonna take. Ideally I need to get on for a bit."  
  
Buffy's spirits plunged a little, "Oh, okay."  
  
"But if I fix it before this evening we could hang out a bit more?" Angel asked hopefully.  
  
Buffy beamed at him, "Yeah sure, I'm gonna go upstairs and do some reading, come and holler if you get done quickly."  
  
"Will do."  
  
Buffy left the kitchen in a daze, "I think he likes me!!" she whispered to herself.  
  
Angel stood in the kitchen for a while after Buffy left, "What am I doing?" he muttered to himself. Sure, he'd seen human and therefore off limits girls before that he thought were attractive but none of them had completely sapped his will to resist temptation, to not get involved in something so pointless. None of them had got under his skin like Buffy and he'd only met her twenty-four hours ago. There were only two possible explanations; firstly that he was in love, secondly that he was losing his mind.  
  
He just hoped it was the second. 


	10. Study vs Angel

Buffy flipped another page with a faint yawn but managed to keep her mind on the content of the book. So far she had memorised the description of about eight common breeds of peace loving demons, she just hoped that the images stayed in her brain.  
  
After committing number nine to memory she looked at her watch, still no Angel knocking at her door. Perhaps she'd been over eager or over hopeful but they now had less then two hours before Angel went out on detecting duty and she ordered pizza before going looking for an old friend or something to beat up. Maybe both.  
  
He so wasn't gonna to come.  
  
With a sigh she turned another page and gasped in disgust, "Ugh, I don't care if you're a good guy, you look butt ugly and that sticky tongue froggie thing you do, yuck!"  
  
She was still staring in horrified fascination at the hideous print of her tenth good guy demon when a hesitant tap sounded at her door, Buffy didn't think twice, she gleefully slung the books into the ready open trunk, almost tripped on her own feet as she dashed to check her hair in the mirror before racing for the door.  
  
Angel twitched outside Buffy's room unsure if he should be pursuing this with her, whatever 'this' was. Finally he mustered a faint tap on her door that he half hoped she wouldn't hear. What if she had gone out? What if she'd just been humouring him and didn't really want to spend more time with him? What if-  
  
Before his mind had travelled too far down the 'what if' path the door was flung open with flattering speed and a welcoming smile.  
  
Angel smiled in return, the first real smile he had ever given Buffy and it took her breath away.  
  
They stood smiling goofily at each other for a few moments before Angel found his voice, "I finished with the car so if you still wanted to and if you're not busy with anything else we could maybe talk some more and I could make you something to eat if you liked."  
  
"I like very much, talk and food are magical words to Buffy!"  
  
"Okay then."  
  
They walked down the stairs together to the kitchen in companionable silence.  
  
With Buffy's ineptitude in the kitchen firmly in mind Angel persuaded her not try to help him make the hamburgers and Salad for her dinner, instead he tried to settle her in a chair with a glass of juice where she could talk to him while he cooked. Despite her constant chattering and highly energetic movements she was strangely restful though exciting company requiring him only to listen and watch as she bounded around humming, twirling the dial on the radio and poking her nose into the fridge; making him very thankful he kept his blood supply upstairs in his apartment.  
  
She was so beautiful and so graceful and there was an air of innocence about her mixed in with a careworn worldliness that presented an enigma. What more did any man want than a beautiful mystery?  
  
Doyle would be appalled, his two and a half centuries old friend letching on his eighteen year old kid sister. He sighed quietly and concentrated on the grill.  
  
Spending this much time with Buffy was a mistake, if, no, when they got Doyle back to entertain her he would stay out of her way and then he wouldn't know her well enough to miss her when she went home.  
  
Yeah, right. If she went home tomorrow he would miss her. How had she buried herself so deep in his heart without him even noticing until it was done?  
  
Angel tore his thoughts away from romancing Buffy and tried to be grateful that she even wanted to be friendly with him, he was grateful for that but for the first time in a long time he found himself wanting more. He snorted as he heaped food on Buffy's plate; he had about as much chance of a date with Buffy Summers as a pig had of flying to the moon. 


	11. An old friend

Buffy strolled out of the Hyperion dressed in knee-high black leather boots with silver spiked stiletto heels, a short black leather skirt with side splits and a backless, strappy silver sequinned top. Part of her hair was clipped up loosely, while the rest fell in waves, softly framing her face. She had spent a nice few hours just hanging out with Angel before he had gone out to meet a source; now she really needed to call Willow for some girl-talk very soon. But first she had an old buddy to look up.  
  
She turned into the club, her sweet yet sultry smile gaining her entry as much as the fake I.D. she flashed at the bouncer. He wouldn't necessarily be in here tonight but this was sort of where they had met and this was where they had sometimes hung out the summer she had run away, the summer she had lost Kendra, the summer her mom had furiously discovered she was the slayer, last summer in fact, though it felt much longer ago.  
  
Spotting a few familiar faces she edged her way through the crowd, yep he was there all right. With a grin she crept up beside him and positioned herself to yell in his ear.  
  
"Hey there Gunn! I see you haven't become a vampire chew toy yet!"  
  
Her old friend spun round with a big grin plastered onto his usually serious face, "Damn, girl, you're sneakier than ever. How you doing?"  
  
"Good. I'm good. You?"  
  
"Damn good, come meet my new girlfriend Fred."  
  
Buffy tucked an arm comfortably through Gunn's and followed him through the crowd fully expecting to be introduced to the latest gorgeous chick with a bag of attitude Gunn had in tow for that week but was pleasantly surprised to be introduced to a sweet, nervous looking Texan.  
  
"Hey Fred! This here is Anne, the one who saved my ass from my first vampire."  
  
Buffy smiled at Fred who smiled and stuttered out a quiet "Hello."  
  
Buffy smiled, "Good to see Gunn got himself some taste in women at last, nice to meet you Fred."  
  
Gunn gestured at the bar with a mock glare for her crack about his taste, "What can I getcha Annie girl?"  
  
Momentarily debating whether or not to fill him in on her true name or not Buffy eventually requested a small whiskey with coke.  
  
Gunn raised an eyebrow, and carefully took in the short skirt and not very large top before handing her the drink as she settled herself on a barstool, "Cutting loose?" he asked.  
  
"Actually yes, I do things my way now and if people don't like it they have to just lump it. If I wanna wear leather and drink whiskey I will," she leant forward so only he could hear, "I love the leather but the whiskey is pretty awful unless it's drowned in coke. I'm in training to eventually swig it neat from a hip flask and horrify people!"  
  
Gunn chuckled delightedly; he'd missed Anne. She had been the one to put him on the path he followed now, it was a tough path that was for sure but it was worthwhile. He'd made some pretty cool friends, felt like he made a difference in the world and of course he'd met Fred.  
  
He draped an arm round Fred and watched as Anne sipped her hated whiskey and remembered the tiny blonde fireball that had effortlessly beaten a vampire into a pulp behind the club and killed it after it had nearly single-handed killed him and his buddy.  
  
Then he had gotten a look at her and had seen she was very young, very unsure of herself and plainly miserable. On the very real pretext of having her teach him what the hell the thing had been and how to fight like her he had taken her under his wing, with no ulterior motives beyond learning how she did what she did and getting her to smile again.  
  
When he'd learned about her runaway status he hadn't encouraged her to go home but hadn't discouraged her either. One day she had simply decided to go, he had missed her but a postcard had come assuring him that she was fine and that they would probably see each other again someday and he had let it go. Soon after that he had met Angel and Doyle as they did battle with the same vampire gang.  
  
The rest was history.  
  
"So what are you doing back in LA?"  
  
Buffy pulled a face, "Visiting. I feel as if I have the plague at the moment. My mom's on her honeymoon, my dad is abroad with his latest bit of stuff so I needed someplace to stay so they sent me to my brother's but he isn't even around, the cheek of the man!"  
  
Gunn chuckled, the old Anne had been pretty cool but she had never really been one to make fun like this or over-share stuff. He hadn't even known she had a brother.  
  
"Feeling unwanted huh?"  
  
"Yeah, pretty much."  
  
"Well I hate to make you feel even more unwanted but we were only meeting in here to start a big patrol together. I don't do it so much anymore because I usually work for some guys who actually pay me to kick demon ass so I promised my boys this past week would be like old times. Took the time off work and hung out but I can't miss the big hunt tonight or my boys will still think they've lost me."  
  
"They pay you huh? Gotta get me an introduction."  
  
"I could probably do that some time but right now we gotta run, we're heading out in a minute. I'd invite you to come but."  
  
"One high kick or bit of violent fighting from me would probably result in the whole world going blind; these clothes would probably fall right off!"  
  
Gunn laughed, "Got it in one. Now when we hooking up for some demon butt- kicking like the old days?"  
  
Buffy got up as they all moved towards the entrance, "Dunno, I don't have anything much planned but as I have my eye glued on one of my brother's friends I don't wanna commit myself in case I could get to spend time helping him do his laundry or something!"  
  
Gunn eyed her mischievously, "You got it bad girl."  
  
"Sue me! If you were a girl and saw him you'd understand."  
  
"Uh huh!"  
  
Buffy gently dug him in the ribs, "Look I'll drop in here before I patrol every night I do go out, so we're bound to both be in here at the same time at some point, okay?"  
  
"Sure. See you later."  
  
Buffy turned her smile on Fred. "Nice to meet you Fred, keep him out of trouble won't you?"  
  
Fred grinned back, "Sure will try. It was nice meeting you too."  
  
"Take care guys." She called as they moved in opposite directions outside the club, Gunn saluted as Fred waved and then they were swallowed up into the night.  
  
Buffy headed home, it was a pity Gunn had been busy but at least he knew she was in town now so they could meet up at a later date. Satisfied with the way the evening had gone Buffy picked up her pace, eager to be back at the Hyperion just in case Angel was at home.  
  
Then she heard a faint scrape of a boot on sidewalk and a sharp tingle raced down her spine. She eased Mr Pointy out of hiding and waited.  
  
She didn't have long to wait, three figures drifted out of the few shadowy spots, unlit by streetlamps. Not bothering to wait for them to attack and have the chance to trash her outfit she leapt at them staking two in quick succession before they even realised their prospective dinner was armed and dangerous.  
  
The remaining one managed to defend himself for a while but was soon ricocheting from wall to floor and back again. Tiring of the game she was winning so easily Buffy moved in for the kill and staked the last one with a flourish before she realized she wasn't actually just dealing with the last one, the last one was behind her.  
  
The vampire managed to grasp her across the throat and across the shoulders but immediately tried to bite down instead of subduing her properly.  
  
What an idiot. Buffy ripped free at the cost of her top, spun round and punched and staked in quick succession. The vampire dust hit the floor at the same time as Buffy's top gave way and collapsed around her waist.  
  
She glared at the dust for a moment, "Wardrobe destroyer!" Ah, who was she trying to kid. An outfit that survived a nocturnal outing unscathed was quite rare in her life.  
  
She dragged up what was left of her top and managed to insecurely fix it back up, a deep breath or strong breeze would make it collapse again though. Time to get home to the Hyperion; funny, it seemed like home already.  
  
She tucked the faithful Mr Pointy back into the top of her skirt, Strike five for Kendra's old stake on this trip; she whisked it out again and peered suspiciously at Mr Pointy, maybe the darn thing was bewitched or had some kind of demon magnet thingy.  
  
With a grunt she tucked it away again, at least there were four less vampires in the world just now, she shouldn't be brooding about having to use the familiar to accomplish that just because she had loads of gorgeous new weapons still un-christened.  
  
Carefully holding her top in place she stomped homeward, hoping the divine detective wouldn't be out detecting. She could just use some Angel time right about now. 


	12. Angel time

Wow, another chapter already! Must be all those encouraging reviews I keep getting. Keep them coming! A big thank you to everyone who is reading and a massive thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing.  
  
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Angel had just got back from a fairly fruitless meeting and had just irritably hurled his weapons into the cabinet when he heard the door snick open and felt a tingle of awareness even as he caught a whiff of a faint perfume he was fast coming to recognize. Buffy.  
  
He stepped out from the shadow of the large wardrobe-like cabinet and moved into view. Just as she apparently assumed nobody was about and relaxed her hold on the top she had apparently been clutching to her. It slithered over the upper slopes of her breasts but her hand shot back up to catch it before it toppled off entirely. He wasn't sure if he was sorry or glad that he missed that peep show.  
  
"Jeeze, silent much!" she exclaimed, "Where did you spring from?" she added smiling up at him.  
  
He relaxed, she wasn't mad that he nearly caught a glimpse of her topless, not that he'd intended to but that wouldn't have mattered if it had been, oh say Cordelia he had accidentally sneaked up on.  
  
"I just got back and was putting my, uh, gun back in the cabinet." Well it had been an axe and two knives, but gun was close enough. "What happened to you?"  
  
"I went to a club to catch up with an old friend but I managed to nearly rip my top right off when I snagged it on something," like a vampire's hand, "so here I am home early. Are you going out again?"  
  
Angel thought about Gunn and his old team, they were going to be out patrolling tonight, the last night of Gunn's absence from AI and although Gunn was at ease with Angel's vampirism now, he knew he made most of Gunn's friends very uneasy; uneasy to the point where they might stake him accidentally on purpose. He had promised Gunn last week that he'd be safely indoors for the night by nine, barring unexpected incidents that was; he glanced at his watch, he was only a little late.  
  
Remembering that Buffy was waiting for an answer he quickly shook his head, "No, if tonight's meeting had come up with something I could work on I would but it was a bit of a pointless meeting really, the guy couldn't tell me much more than I already knew. Nothing I can act on until I talk to someone else tomorrow night anyway."  
  
Angel just hoped tomorrow was soon enough for Doyle. He couldn't imagine having to tell Buffy her brother was dead.  
  
Wesley was holed up in his own apartment upstairs, sleeping he claimed, but really Angel knew he was poring over books, seeking an answer. Hoping that the date for Doyle's execution was far enough in the future that they got together enough information in time to save him.  
  
Angel was fairly sure Wes hadn't slept for a while as he ploughed through all the books that only he could read, written in obscure languages that gave Angel a headache just looking at them. He was okay with languages but Wes, over two hundred years his junior made him look dumb by comparison.  
  
He had blitzed the old English, Latin and French works they possessed himself, but Wes was still going with everything else hoping something would yield a clue. He could probably recite by heart everything there was to know about the wretched Quaazberoon demons, all except the date of their big ritual and where they were holding Doyle.  
  
He gazed down at Buffy still holding up her excuse for a top, " If you get changed into something more comfortable and more secure we could maybe watch a movie or something."  
  
Buffy looked up at Angel, he was so sweet, and so naughty. He was practically smirking as he said 'secure' and how he managed to make 'more comfortable' sound sexy when Buffy usually viewed baggy tracksuit bottoms as more comfortable she could not fathom. But Angel probably wouldn't ask her to watch a movie with him every night so she bounded for the stairs shouting over her shoulder, "I'll be right back, if you wanna pick the movie go ahead."  
  
Once in her room Buffy flew to straighten herself out in miracle time, she wanted to give the impression of looking wonderful in no time at all. What man could resist a woman who looked great with minimal effort? Angel most probably, knowing her luck!  
  
Five minutes later her hair was in a neat ponytail, her lips were freshly glossed and she was skipping downstairs dressed in a cute baby blue twin set and faded blue jeans.  
  
Angel who had been hooking up the video in the den caught sight of her through the open door and did a double take; she was ready in five minutes? He'd never known a woman who could be ready in five minutes ever in his whole very long life!"  
  
He shook his head; there seemed to be a lot of firsts for him this week.  
  
When she joined him he gestured at the shelves filled with Books, CD's and videos and said, "I didn't know what sort of thing you'd want to watch so I left it up to you, most of these belong to the company as a whole so I haven't seen a lot of them, I tend to read more I guess."  
  
"That's cool, more choice now," said Buffy with a sunny smile as she stepped up to the shelves of videos. A few minutes later she had announced she had seen virtually all of the films and finally settled on a subtitled French one she hadn't seen.  
  
Angel inserted the cassette and they settled back comfortably onto the plush, cozy sofa. A few minutes into the film the sofa seemed far too cozy as the main storyline turned out to be mildly pornographic.  
  
Buffy sat mere inches from Angel feeling very flushed, it was different to think about doing rude things with him, sitting watching stuff like it on video with him was an entirely different matter, she didn't even have the guts to give him sexy little glances out of the corner of her eye during the tenderly sexy bits.  
  
They watched in uneasy silence until the credits finally rolled.  
  
"Y' know, from the title I thought there'd be food in it." Piped Buffy nervously as she tried to break the slightly awkward silence.  
  
"Yeah, well there was food, in parts." He trailed off uncomfortably.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Suddenly Buffy started giggling, "That's something else for you to add to the list that starts 'Don't let Buffy.' Oh, I'm so sorry Angel I should've stuck with a film that I knew wouldn't turn out virtually pornographic!"  
  
Angel turned to face her, much less embarrassed now she was so amused. "Check. Will also remember not to let your brother leave his dirty videos lying around!"  
  
"Nah, Doyle wouldn't have anything that subtle! It would've had a title like 'Hot Chicks' or something if it belonged to Doyle!"  
  
"Bet it was Wes!"  
  
They sniggered and clutched each other, relieved that the embarrassment was over.  
  
"Maybe we should listen to music instead?" Angel suggested with a grin as they finally stopped chuckling nervously, "It might be safer than films."  
  
Buffy lightly smacked his arm and used him as a leaning post to stand up before sauntering towards the CD's.  
  
Angel smiled as she studied the titles intently, loving that she was so comfortable with him.  
  
Making up her mind she whisked out a CD and stuffed it into the machine before bounding back to sit beside him with the remote in her hand. Clicking for the second track on the disc she tucked her feet up underneath her and made herself comfortable leaning against him and pressed play.  
  
He smiled down at her lovingly even as he braced himself for an obnoxious torrent of music he would hate. After all, he hated about seventy percent of the music on the shelf and only about ten out of the two-hundred odd CD's up there were actually his.  
  
The haunting strains of Sarah Mclachlan filled the air and Buffy sighed in satisfaction, snuggling her golden head onto his shoulder. Incredible. Of all the CD's up there she had picked one of his. He cradled his arm around her a bit more and relaxed completely, suddenly incapable of brooding at all.  
  
As he and Buffy listened to 'I will remember you' pour from the speakers, for the first time in his life Angel felt like he truly fit. 


	13. Close

Thanks again for the reviews!  
  
Angel's curse? Nah, I won't put that in, even I'm not that evil, even if I am making you all wait ages for secrets to get found out and for B/A smoochies!  
  
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Her bed was strange this morning Buffy decided sleepily as she squirmed, trying to get more comfortable. There was a sharp cornered rectangular lump digging into her thigh that simply shouldn't be there. She stretched down a hand and grabbed whatever it was and dumped it out of the way without opening her eyes. That was better; she gave a grunt of satisfaction. A pillow had never been so comfortable. She buried her face in it and was startled when the pillow twitched.  
  
She lifted her head and found herself looking straight into Angel's eyes.  
  
She sat up with a squeak, hastily checking for drool with one hand and franticly trying to tame her probably now insane hairdo with the other. There was no drool, which was very much a good thing. Messy hair was forgivable; drool was not.  
  
Apart from the wrinkles in his once pristine grey shirt where she had slept on him, using his chest as a truly wonderful pillow Angel looked as perfect as ever. He smiled up at her and reached out a tentative hand to tuck a loose wisp of hair back into place.  
  
"Hey." She said lamely.  
  
He smiled at her, "Hey," he returned softly.  
  
"Guess we fell asleep."  
  
"Guess we did."  
  
Buffy gazed into Angel's gorgeous brown eyes, she had never been so close to him before and she wanted to make the most of it before she had to wake up properly and crawl off him. He gazed back at her with a tiny smile playing around his suddenly incredibly, irresistibly kissable mouth.  
  
Buffy's heartbeat sped up and blood whooshed in her ears. Her mind raced over the possibilities in a few seconds.  
  
Did she dare? Could she kiss him and live with either possible set of consequences?  
  
Door number one where he kissed her back and became her adoring boyfriend looked really good, but door number two where he backed away spitting with disgust was a horrifying prospect.  
  
But hadn't she boasted to Gunn only last night she did what she wanted now? Hadn't she said to Willow when they first met 'Carpe diem' so why was she not following her own rules? Angel was definitely worth the risk.  
  
She'd make it a slow movie type kiss, the one where she would lowered her head towards his at a rate of half an inch a second. Thus giving him ample time to either close the distance or pull away screaming. She slowly moved towards him.  
  
Angel lay sleepily watching as Buffy fussed with her hair, but what woman didn't in the morning? She looked kinda cute with her hair sticking off at all angles. But from Doyle's experiences with Cordelia in the mornings he knew better than to voice such a sentiment.  
  
Then he watched as she gazed at him before slowly lowering her upper body back down beside him, leaving her legs tangled with his. As her face got closer to his he stared, this couldn't really be happening, could it? She looked as if she was actually going to kiss him. He wasn't going to argue, or get his hopes up but he angled his face so if she moved forwards another few inches on her current trajectory her lips would exactly meet his.  
  
With an inch to go a throat was loudly cleared in the doorway and they jerked apart looking up to see a short, mostly human looking demon framed in the doorway.  
  
Angel looked at Buffy who had slithered off him flushed with embarrassment and leapt to his feet to hustle the demon into his office before Buffy recovered sufficiently to realize that it was more than just an ugly human she had seen.  
  
Over his shoulder he asked, "See you at lunch?"  
  
Buffy nodded at him with a sweet smile.  
  
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My friend who is reading and correcting this over my shoulder as I write said that was all too predictable and totally evil, it was rather wasn't it?  
  
I'll make up for it I promise! 


	14. Shoes

Wow, the reviews are really stacking up now! Thank you all very much for liking my work.  
  
Sorry I didn't update at the weekend but real life intruded in the shape of my boyfriend's birthday celebrations. To make up for the lack here's a load of new chapters.  
  
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Buffy sat on the sofa still trying to fix her hair long after Angel and his ugly pal had gone. She huffed, half wistful, half annoyed. Now she might never get another chance with Angel. If she'd been faster she might've managed to kiss him and then she'd know for sure that if he hadn't moved away then he wanted to be kissed. He certainly hadn't seemed inclined to move that was for sure.  
  
She stood up and tried to smooth the wrinkles from her jeans before making her way to the door. But then again if she had managed to kiss him and he'd just been too busy dozing to escape in time she would be very busy dying of humiliation right about now. Maybe the ugly dude had done her a favour; she poked her head out of the door to check for stray people before scurrying to the stairs, then again maybe not, even if Angel had run screaming she could have quite convincingly pretended she was half asleep still and thought he was someone else. How many other times was she likely to wake up sprawled on his chest with an opportunity like that?  
  
Zilch, Zippo, Nada.  
  
She stomped up to her room and banged the door open; a shower and beautification was the order of the morning before lunch with Angel. If she pulled out all the stops maybe, just maybe her luck would change.  
  
She almost sprinted to the closet; the perfect outfit, the perfect hairstyle and the perfect make-up would take a while to assemble. Every minute counted, particularly if she took the time to apply a deep conditioning treatment and a face pack.  
  
But what if Angel knocked on her door while she still had thick green gloop on her face? Hmm, scratch the face pack. Pond scum was not a good look.  
  
Buffy whirled around in a frenzy for some hours and was just jamming her feet into the cutest white flowered sandals ever, that perfectly matched the white lace dress, sleek blonde hair and silvery frosted make-up when the now familiar tentative knock sounded.  
  
Buffy allowed herself a smirk, she was so good, talk about perfect timing.  
  
She swung the door open with a coy smile to see the gorgeous Angel looking buff in his usual black pants but with a tight white t-shirt. Buffy stared at him until she realized she probably looked as if she wanted him for lunch.  
  
She swung back her unusually sleek mane of hair and reached into the room to grab her purse. "I thought we could maybe go out to lunch?" she said stepping into the corridor.  
  
Angel shook his head quickly, "I already ordered lunch for you from the local Italian, I'm not very hungry so I figured I'd just sit with you and have a drink, maybe some soup."  
  
"Oh, okay, I love Italian food."  
  
They proceeded downstairs to the kitchen where Buffy found an immaculately laid table and boxes of steaming food.  
  
She plonked herself into a chair as Angel served them both. She forgot she had wanted to go out and dug in hungrily to the wonderful food.  
  
As she ate and Angel half-heartedly drank soup they chatted easily, only avoiding the topic of what had almost happened in the morning.  
  
Finally Buffy sat back with a sigh to declare she couldn't eat another bite.  
  
Angel smiled affectionately at her as he cleared away, "So do you have any plans for the rest of the day?"  
  
"Not really, I thought I'd go shopping and get some presents for my friends, I really miss them already. Plus I ordered a book that should be in the store by now. Maybe I'll even get a few items of decent clothing for my big bro; Cordelia forcefully reminded me of how awful and embarrassing his dress sense is so I thought I'd try to straighten him out for her sake. I don't know how she can bear to date him, I mean she's a fashion plate and he sometimes resembles something that crawled from under a stone."  
  
"Yeah, I've rarely seen a weirder couple but they seem to work."  
  
"I can't wait to see them together. Cordelia seemed nice."  
  
"Yeah, Cordy's great. Doyle's a lucky man."  
  
Alarm bells rang in Buffy's head. He thinks Cordelia is great and Doyle's a lucky man? Agh! What if he likes her too?  
  
"Of course, she'd probably drive me mad within a week but each to their own."  
  
Buffy heaved a sigh of relief. "High maintenance?"  
  
"Pretty much, anyway she's not my type."  
  
"Oh? What is your type?"  
  
Angel grinned lopsidedly at Buffy, "Well, I'm not a sucker for tall, skinny brunettes, put it that way."  
  
Buffy grinned too, as she was pretty much the opposite of that description she was in with a chance.  
  
"Do you maybe want to come to the mall with me Angel? You dress nice so maybe a little guy input wouldn't go amiss."  
  
Angel groaned inwardly. He was quite fond of shopping and shopping with Buffy; spending more time with Buffy, sounded like a good way to spend the afternoon but somehow he didn't think she would understand his need to travel by sewer or in the trunk of the car. Besides bearing in mind she had no license and had trashed her mother's car the trunk wouldn't even be an option. That left the sewers. He raked his gaze over her; she was white and frilly today with cute sandals - a big no-no for the sewers.  
  
"Sorry," he said stiltedly, "but I have a few things to do and I need to hold the fort here so, maybe another time?"  
  
Buffy nodded quickly, accepting his excuse that sounded like a fib, "Sure, okay. No worries. If I don't see you later I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
Angel nodded back, "Probably tomorrow, I'll look forward to it."  
  
"Yeah me too."  
  
With that Buffy waved an airy goodbye and trotted out into the street. He hadn't wanted to go with her and wasn't going to see her until tomorrow. She pouted and considered going up to her room to sulk and possibly snivel, but there were shoe shops and she had money to spend. Shoes would make her feel better. Shoes could mend almost anything. Hopefully that included hearts. 


	15. Triple trouble

Angel glided noiselessly through the shadows of the alleyway with an air of satisfaction about him. He was pleased by how well he and Buffy were getting along and was secretly nurturing pointless fantasies about the two of them getting together but he was realistic except in his daydreams and was even more pleased that his meeting with an informant had gone so well.  
  
Buffy could soon have her brother back and he could step back and try to stop loving her before she went home and left a gaping hole in his life. It was, after all the only sensible thing to do.  
  
After Doyle's disappearance he had immediately gone to the demon nest they had been about to investigate. But everything, every last trace of settlement had vanished. Angel had almost despaired then, how could he find Doyle when he could find nothing to guide him?  
  
But now, at last, he had a lead. Not a very precise lead it was true but that particular source had never let him down before, Angel smiled nastily - those Quaazberoon demons were screwed. What kind of name was Quaazberoon anyway? Stupid that's what.  
  
He was so involved in plotting the ultimate downfall of the Quaazberoon race that he almost didn't see the axe swing at his neck.  
  
Awkwardly flipping himself backwards Angel narrowly avoided decapitation and landed heavily amongst some trashcans. What the hell?  
  
He scrambled upright and weighed up his attackers, two large lumpy demons with big blunt axes lumbered towards him with surprising speed, a third hung back a little. Angel resisted the urge to roll his eyes, how had he ever got cornered like this? Particularly by a bunch of demons that he was fairly sure only had brains the size of pickled walnuts.  
  
With a shrug he drew his own axe from his bag, "C'mon then, lets see what you've got, just mind the coat okay!"  
  
Angel dodged and ducked frantically as the demons stampeded around desperately trying to get a hit on him. He didn't want to make a run for it and leave these demons around to hurt someone else but he also needed to get back to the Hyperion in one piece, reasonably soon too. Something the lumpy trio was determined to prevent. Whenever he managed to get a hit on them, their thick body plating made the blow glance off; he was rapidly realising that he probably needed a much smaller, much pointier weapon. 


	16. What?

Buffy was still sulking, new shoes had helped a little bit so she was out on patrol looking for something to beat up, that would help too. Unfortunately she had clearly been spoilt by the amount of demons to be killed on the Hellmouth, so far she had only managed to scare a cat and was beginning to despair of finding anything to mangle with her new weapons.  
  
Normally she complained about having to patrol, though secretly she didn't really mind; particularly if there was nothing better to do, but now she was out entirely of her own accord looking for evil demons to slaughter for the good of mankind and nothing had the decency to show up to be killed. It just wasn't right.  
  
She decided to climb up a fire escape onto a roof to see if she could find anything to take pot shots at in the alleyways below, also it would take her away from curious eyes and give her feet a rest.  
  
She had almost decided that lying in wait for demons wasn't working either and was about to go back to the Hyperion in disgust when the sound of overturning trash cans drifted up to her. Ever hopeful Buffy raced across the roof to see three large lumpy demons clutching axes and surrounding whatever had knocked the trash cans around.  
  
Then the floored prey turned the tables leaping up with an axe of it's own. Buffy gasped in shock, it was Angel. Well that pretty much settled the do they know about demons question she mused, as she got ready with her crossbow, just in case. Angel seemed to be having difficulties she realized a few seconds later after watching his graceful moves and evasions with admiration, the thick body plating of the demons didn't seem to be breaking and he was unlikely to have much luck going through the small vulnerable cracks with his big old fighting axe.  
  
Carefully taking aim she loosed a bolt on the demon that seemed to be standing back for a moment, and bingo! One bolt fired neatly under the head armour and into the neck and 'crump', demon down. Pleased with herself Buffy got ready to repeat the performance chuckling as she heard Angel yell at the others "You're taking up valuable time in my schedule, if you don't mind can you speed this up and just die already?"  
  
Just then Angel managed to land a solid blow on one of the demons breaking the breastplate. Buffy restrained the urge to whistle or clap, damn he was strong.  
  
The third and last demon stood for a moment as if puzzled by it's sudden aloneness and Buffy took the opportunity to finish it off as she had the first before it made up it's mind to charge Angel again. Smiling smugly she took a half step back from the edge of the roof, debating whether or not to let Angel see her on the roof or to climb down and chat when she heard the commotion of falling trash cans begin again from the other side of the building, Angel heard it too judging by the way his head jerked up and he stopped looking curiously at the two demons she had shot and ran round the building holding his axe ready.  
  
Buffy ran across the top of the building to see a four vampires closing in on a young couple who clutched each other as they tried to sit up between the trash cans they had been flung into. She hastily got her crossbow sights on the leader before a maddened axe man obscured her shot. The fight moved in a blur as Angel roared at the two youngsters to run for it and swung his axe cleanly through the neck of the largest vampire. His dust had barely fallen before the other three vampires jumped on Angel who incredibly shook them off with a growl through his fangs.  
  
Wait a minute! Fangs! Buffy stared as the gorgeous Angel's face shifted into the visage of a vampire. "How?" She muttered clutching her crossbow tightly. Should she shoot and not care who she hit? But vampires weren't made in a matter of hours so, Angel had to have been a vampire earlier and he hadn't set off her ultra reliable creep-o-meter then. What was going on? She was only just getting into the idea of not all demons being evil; now having to expand to accommodate un-evil vampires was just too much.  
  
She swallowed hard, she was specially designed to kill vampires not to help them out in a fight but Angel really didn't seem to be an average vampire and he'd got into the fight for the sake of rescuing two kids, not for himself. With a sigh and that in mind she raised the crossbow again to neatly pick off one of the two remaining vampires as it was about to plunge a piece of broken wood into Angel's chest as Angel dusted the other remaining vampire.  
  
Then she turned, sprinted across the roof, shimmied down half the fire escape before dropping to the ground and hurrying to lose herself in a crowd a few streets away.  
  
There was no way she could face Angel now, not yet anyway. 


	17. Who?

Angel brushed Vampire dust off his pants and squinted up at the roof. He'd almost been in serious trouble a few moments ago until someone up on the roof of that building had fired an incredibly accurate shot that had possibly saved his life, or at least saved him from having a painful hole in his chest for a while.  
  
Whoever it had been they hadn't waited around, he had immediately heard lightly running feet across the roof and a faint thud as whoever it had been had jumped from the fire escape. Clearly they hadn't wanted to stay and chat.  
  
He glanced around looking for the bolt or arrow but couldn't see it, some professional demon hunter's marked their arrows with symbols or initials and he was curious to see if it was someone he might know of. Even seeing what weapon the mystery helper favoured might help him identify who they were.  
  
Whoever it was had calmly and accurately shot two demons and a vampire to save him but hadn't tried to shoot him when he revealed his own game-face, very strange. Deciding to have a look at the ones shot into the demons he walked back around the building.  
  
After some tugging and grimacing over the viscous pink slime running from the demon's wound Angel achieved his objective, he had a bolt used by his unseen assistant. Taking a moment to admire the perfect shots to the neck of both demons he then turned his attention to the bolt. It was unusual, black with a few cobweb fine silver lines etched onto it in spirals and stamped in silver on one end was the initial 'S' Angel frowned. He'd never seen bolts quite like these before, pondering what the 'S' could stand for he pocketed it, turned and left the alleyway.  
  
The bolt and its owner would have to wait awhile; he had a best friend in need of rescuing. 


	18. Could it be?

"Angel! How'd it go?"  
  
Angel smiled at Cordelia; "I think we'll have him home within a day or two."  
  
Cordelia squealed joyfully and wrapped her arms tightly around him and squeezed until he winced.  
  
"Ooh, sorry Angel, you didn't say you got hurt looking for Doyle."  
  
"I didn't, this is unrelated or at least I think it is. Three demons jumped me in an alleyway and then I tangled with four vampires intent on draining a couple of teenagers."  
  
Wesley advanced with the first aid kit and a wry smile, "Busy night hmm?"  
  
"Very." Angel fervently agreed "I also think we have a new player in town."  
  
Wesley raised an eyebrow, "Indeed?"  
  
"What do you mean? Please not another Wolfram and Hart thingie?" added Cordelia.  
  
Angel peeled off his shirt and coat, fleetingly pleased to see that his coat had not suffered unduly. Then hissed through his teeth as he applied some antiseptic to some deep grazes on his ribs and a smallish puncture wound on his belly, "Quite the opposite, the demons I fought had thick, virtually unbreakable plating on their bodies, I couldn't break it at first and my axe wouldn't go through the tiny joints. Somebody fired two perfect shots from the roof of a building three stories up and got two of the three in the back of the neck and killed them instantly. Then they picked off one of the vampires as well, at a crucial moment too."  
  
"Cool." Grinned Gunn, "But where were you while this unknown hero swung into action?"  
  
Wesley cleared his throat, "I suppose it could be another demon hunter, helping out a fellow in distress."  
  
Angel shook his head, "No, I vamped out; don't you think they would have shot me too? They had the opportunity."  
  
"Maybe they know who you are?" Suggested Fred tentatively.  
  
"Yeah, It could be an ally of ours then." Suggested Cordelia, then she wrinkled her nose, "Do we actually have any allies?"  
  
"Well I never saw bolts like this before," Angel said holding out the bolt he had found "and allies don't usually run away and hide after they save someone's ass."  
  
Wesley took the bolt looking puzzled, "They saw your face, and ran you say?"  
  
"Who wouldn't?" Cordelia teased.  
  
Wesley sniggered, "No, I meant that they saved you but were aware of what you are and didn't act against you, choosing to retreat instead?"  
  
"I don't see how they could have missed the fangs if they made three shots that good Wes." Gunn commented.  
  
Wesley frowned and stared at the bolt as if it would share the secret of its owner's identity before Gunn leant over to examine it too.  
  
Angel sighed and stood up, "Never mind that now guys, one thing at a time and at the moment Doyle comes first. Let's make plans." He led the way into the library.  
  
Gunn stayed behind the others gazing at the bolt for a moment. He wondered. Could the bolt belong to Anne? The 'S' didn't fit with that but it could be a nickname or even her surname. She was good and in town, it made sense except as far as he knew Anne shot or staked everything under the sun that was demon in origin; and that would include Angel.  
  
"Gunn?" Fred called from the library.  
  
He turned with the bolt still in his hands, "Yeah, I'm coming." He strode into the library where he dumped the bolt down on the table. It couldn't have been Anne because Angel would be dust, or at least a pincushion if it she had been on that rooftop. 


	19. Thinking things over

Wow! So many reviews now, thank you all very much. Glad you like it.  
  
I've been trying to put these chapters up for days now. I FINALLY got the stupid document manager to accept them. More will come shortly if the dumb thing doesn't die again.  
  
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Buffy wandered aimlessly for a while, pondering what she had seen. Angel was a Vampire. Doyle's Gorgeous, sweet, kind, sexy friend and colleague was her enemy. Well, technically anyway. But how could he be her enemy? If she hadn't seen his face when he morphed she would never have guessed that he was a vampire, therefore he could not be a regular kind of vampire. Could he?  
  
Every other vampire she had encountered in the past had made her feel at least mildly twitchy; Angel just made her feel warm and gooey. Particularly now as she was gaining greater power as a slayer a vampire coming within a yard or two of her was like having an unpleasant cold chill go right through her, she had been really close to Angel, even used him as a pillow all night and felt nothing of the sort.  
  
Perhaps she should give him a chance to show that he wasn't like his brethren, after all if her brother got back and discovered she'd staked his friend purely on the grounds of his breed she couldn't imagine it being a happy reunion.  
  
Perhaps Giles would know something about Vampire's being un-evil, besides she still had to call him about the book Wes had been clutching, so she could simply ask about abnormal vamp behaviour and see what pearls of wisdom he would find to spout, she glanced at her watch, with a bit of luck he would still be up cataloguing or browsing or drinking tea. She speeded her pace; if she got back soon he probably wouldn't mind being called and pestered for information.  
  
Angel, Cordelia and Wesley were gathered in the foyer of the Hyperion when Buffy got back, she scowled through the door at them. Ideally she didn't want to face any of them until she figured out what was going on with Angel. She glanced down at herself, particularly not dressed the way she was, it screamed predator as many of her slaying outfits did and she didn't even know how much Angel had seen of his mystery assistant.  
  
With a shrug she pushed the door open as softly as she could, nobody looked around. Sneaking could be a plan. She had got down the steps noiselessly and was halfway to the stairs when Wesley gasped.  
  
Buffy spun on her heels and summoned up a slightly mocking look for the trio, "Couldn't sleep so I just popped out for a walk. Goodnight all." She spun on her heel and glided to the stairs, with a few swift noiseless bounds she was at the top in the blink of an eye.  
  
Silence reigned for a moment before Wesley spoke disbelievingly, "Was that Buffy?"  
  
Angel took a moment to close his mouth, what was with that girl? By day she was a cute, naïve looking schoolgirl, by night she strutted around looking as if she owned the world.  
  
"I thought she went to bed hours ago," Wesley added faintly.  
  
"That was Doyle's little sis?" Cordelia added incredulously with heavy emphasis on the 'little'.  
  
Wesley grimaced, "The one and only."  
  
"Forget Buffy," Angel instructed impatiently, wishing he could.  
  
"But how did she get so far into the room without us even noticing? Particularly you Angel; Wes only noticed because he was the one facing her and must've caught a flicker of motion."  
  
"Yeah," agreed Angel, "That was kinda weird."  
  
Wesley finally shook off his daze, "Doyle first people, then we'll worry about his sister. Perhaps when we get him back he can sort her out."  
  
"Doyle? Sort that out?" Cordelia jerked her head towards the stairs as she headed back into the library to help Fred and Gunn with the weapons, "Doyle could barely sort out a kid still in diapers, let alone that! But yeah, lets get my boyfriend back. On with the plan." 


	20. Questions

Buffy tossed her leather jacket over a nearby chair and began removing weaponry from about her person, once she had most of it stowed safely in her trunk she reached for the telephone and dialled Giles' number.  
  
"Hello, Rupert Giles speaking," grumbled a tired voice.  
  
"Giles! It's Buffy. I'm really, really sorry to pester you this late but something weird is up with my brother's friends."  
  
Giles smothered his yawn at once, "Yes of course Buffy, how can I help with that? Define the weirdness."  
  
Buffy sighed with relief, he didn't sound annoyed at all, more like flattered to be consulted and pleased that she was doing her job properly. "Well, it's not really so much them as what they seem to be involved in." She paused as she fumbled for her diary. "Giles, does a book title 'Rites and rituals of the Q-U-A-A-Z something' mean anything to you?"  
  
There was a brief silence as Giles muttered to himself before hesitantly replying, "not right off no, should it?"  
  
"It was a fairly old looking book and the guy holding it kinda tried to hide the title from me, so I was curious and it didn't look or sound as if it would be out of place in your collection."  
  
"Well, I can certainly check and let you know if I find something, was there anything else?"  
  
"Well, Angel, which is one of the other guys fought some vampires and staked them and everything so obviously they know about demons, which kinda reinforced the whole demon book idea."  
  
"Interesting. You say this man actually did battle with these vampires?"  
  
"Yeah, there was total butt-kicking, He just waded in to save these two kids and killed three of the four."  
  
"Fascinating."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Now how do I work in the Angel won against the vampires cause he's a big strong vampire himself pondered Buffy as Giles excitedly searched for books, asking again for the spelling of the partial word she had glimpsed. Then he began asking her how long she estimated the rest of the title to have been and Buffy just plumped out her question.  
  
"Giles is it possible for a vampire to be a good person?"  
  
Momentarily diverted from his hunt through his filing system for demons and cults beginning with 'Q' Giles replied, "Well, technically a vampire isn't a person at all."  
  
Buffy interrupted quickly before he got off onto his favourite explanation and she lost him entirely. "Yeah, you taught me the whole when you die the demon takes the body and memories but not the soul, which is the essence of humanity and makes us what we are thing. But could a vampire maybe, I dunno; maybe retain his soul?"  
  
"Buffy, that is an impossible notion and even if, impossibly a vampire retained it's soul it would still have the urge to hunt and kill because vampires are predators by nature, only you can make them prey. So even then the prospect of this implausible creature being a good person is very slim."  
  
"Oh, okay." Muttered Buffy somewhat defeated as Giles began firing questions again about the book.  
  
Suddenly, as she gazed into her open trunk she got an idea, "Giles?"  
  
"Mmm?"  
  
"Would it be possible to change the nature of a vampire with magick? Maybe even restore its soul?  
  
There was a long silence before Giles spoke again, "I hesitate to ask Buffy, but why are you suddenly so interested in the possibility of good vampires?"  
  
Buffy pounced, "So it is a possibility then?"  
  
Giles sighed audibly and Buffy could just imagine him polishing his glasses on his clean starchy handkerchief. Eventually he spoke. "I suppose theoretically the magickal restoration of a soul is possible but I would imagine it to be a very complex spell, not lightly undertaken. Then of course if the spell was successful there would be other implications to consider."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Well if the vampire has killed, particularly somebody close to them the restoration of the soul would be a terrible thing. If a vampire takes the memories of the human it has killed, why should the soul not remember the acts of the demon while it was in unchallenged control?"  
  
That was something Buffy hadn't thought of. Angel; a killer? She imagined him wracked with guilt and her heart ached for him. Vampire or not she still thought he was the nicest, handsomest guy she had ever met. He hadn't deserved whatever his deal was.  
  
"Buffy, is there a reason you wanted to know that?"  
  
"Huh? No. I'm just curiosity gal today. The 'Q' word was probably another five or six letters by the way."  
  
There was a loud exclamation from Giles and then some rustling and banging noises. "Uh, Giles? You okay?"  
  
"Here it is!" Giles said happily, "Rites and rituals of the Quaazberoon demon. Does that sound about right?"  
  
"Freaky name, but yeah about the right length."  
  
"Oh, and I have another even more in depth book about them too. Plus a few snippets in more generalized tomes."  
  
Buffy listened patiently as Giles described the demons; by the sound of it they weren't the lumpy boys she and Angel had decked between them. Who else was down on poor Angel? Whoa! Poor Angel? When did he become poor Angel?  
  
She drifted into an impossible fantasy of a vampire and a vampire slayer falling in love with each other and living happily ever after.  
  
Defying her common sense and her slayer sense she silently and deliberately listed the pro points of Angel as a boyfriend while listening with half an ear on Giles. The biggest bonus she could see would be his less than easy to dent body, any boyfriend she might have would probably get battered occasionally, how much easier for Angel to bounce back than a human. Also she wouldn't have to treat him gently or hide her strength for fear of intimidating him. Then there was his kindness and good humour and his impossibly cute little ghost of a smile, his gorgeous piercing eyes and awesomely sexy body. The pancakes were pretty nice too.  
  
Mm, Angel really was the stuff of dreams and if he really was a good vampire that could work out almost better than him being a regular human guy. Yeah right Buffy, she reminded herself, like he'd be interested in dating you, particularly slayer you.  
  
Then Giles described an unpleasant plan the demons had for world domination. Buffy sat bolt upright on the edge of the bed, "Say again," she asked calmly.  
  
"Er, they plan to make a series of half-blood sacrifices, by which I presume they mean half man, half demon beings at a time when the stars align to a certain pattern. If they complete the ritual they will ascend to great power. The book describes the last time such a sacrifice was attempted. A slayer thwarted it on that occasion almost eight hundred years ago, hmm and it looks as if the stars are about due to align again, I'll just check my astronomy books to be sure, hold on a moment please."  
  
Buffy sat with her heart in her mouth. So a bunch of detectives had a book about demons that were planning to make half-blood sacrifices and one of the detectives was nowhere to be seen - alleged to be very busy with an unexpected case, the one detective that just happened to be a half blood man/demon. Buffy's mind whirled; it was a highly possible and somewhat terrifying explanation. Either way she needed to talk to the rest of them, and soon.  
  
Just then Giles came back on the line interrupting her panicked thoughts, "Yes, there is about two days before the stars align Buffy, it's a good thing you called, you really need to put a stop this as soon as you can."  
  
"Wonderful, just what I needed. Well, thanks Giles, I think I'll go and look into this a little more closely."  
  
"Certainly Buffy, best of luck with this. If you need me to come to Los Angeles to assist in any way I will."  
  
"Thanks Giles. I'll see how I do first though."  
  
"Okay, goodbye Buffy."  
  
"Bye Giles." 


	21. Preparation

Buffy made up her mind quickly, she had hoped not to have to face Angel again so soon with her newly gained knowledge but she had to trust him, maybe even join forces with him if it helped her rescue her brother, assuming that she wasn't just being paranoid about Doyle being missing that was.  
  
Slowly she sneaked down the corridor outside her room and listened carefully for voices. Once she was satisfied the trio were still downstairs talking she snuck back to her room to prepare.  
  
She gathered weapons together in readiness, just the basics - crossbow and bolts, sword and six stakes. Hey, a stake would kill virtually anything if stabbed in with enough force.  
  
Different clothes were also called for. If she ended up on a rescue mission to save Doyle it was almost certain to end in extreme violence and destruction of clothes, so pretty and expensive black cashmere sweaters could just go back in their bags and stay there. Buttery soft red leather pants ditto.  
  
She sorted hastily through the closet selecting much heavier and slightly battle-scarred black leather pants, her clumpiest combat boots, a black leather bustier with invisible elasticized bits, well-worn black leather wrist guards and her long leather coat. Comfortable to fight in, cool looking, giving her some protection and if it got more damaged or destroyed - well, at least it wasn't shiny and new.  
  
She strapped the sword to her side and tucked the crossbow under her arm, her stakes were tucked invisibly into pockets and boots, artfully draping her coat over her arm to temporarily hide both the sword and crossbow she walked noiselessly to the top of the stairs where the faint murmur of voices still drifted up. 


	22. Revelations

Thank you to everyone who reviewed.  
  
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"Are we all agreed?" Angel finally finished describing his plan to his team. "Its a good plan." He defended as they all looked at him as if he'd sprouted another head, which admittedly was not entirely impossible, but still. "C'mon guys, this is all we have."  
  
"I know," Cordelia, sighed, "We'll do it, but it's very risky, particularly for you Angel."  
  
Wesley nodded, "I agree with Cordelia Angel, but as the only way I would be completely happy facing this lot is from the inside of a tank with half an army beside me this plan will have to do."  
  
"So lets do it." Angel said grimly as he snatched up his axe, "Remember you lot, if I don't make it out you take Doyle and scram. If I can't get myself out then you probably won't be able to get me out either. Clear?"  
  
Cordelia and Fred exchanged brief glances before they both hid their hands behind their backs; crossed their fingers and promised. Wesley and Gunn nodded their agreement too, entirely without meaning it. If Angel got into trouble, then they were all in the trouble with him.  
  
Angel nodded in satisfaction and was about to move towards the doors when Buffy's voice drawled sarcastically, "Well isn't this nice."  
  
"Buffy!" gasped three voices.  
  
"Anne?" murmured another.  
  
Fred just looked on in bemusement.  
  
"Bingo! You guys are right on the ball tonight even if you do officially have a very crazy plan."  
  
"You heard?" Croaked Angel.  
  
"Every damn word."  
  
"We can explain." began Wesley hastily. But Buffy cut him off with a fierce glare and a wave of her free hand.  
  
"I'm sure you could dream up some very interesting and possibly even convincing explanations but I don't think we have time for that, after all it is only two days until the stars align and the biggest half blood massacre ever will be under way and Doyle will be one of the dead."  
  
"How did you know that?" Angel exclaimed.  
  
"The stars align in two days?" Wesley asked.  
  
"What's with the outfit?!" Cordelia screeched.  
  
"Damn!" said Gunn.  
  
Fred just stared.  
  
Buffy burst out laughing, "Hey Gunn! Are these the crazies who pay you? Cordelia, this is my butt-kicking outfit, Wesley yes the stars align in two days - I have it on good authority, but why waste time waiting for the night when we could attack them right now?"  
  
"Uh? We?" Wesley asked nervously, I don't think you quite know what you're getting into Buffy."  
  
"Yes I do and yes we." Buffy replied firmly, "He's my brother and I'm rescuing him. I know what I'm doing."  
  
"You should listen to the lady Wes." Gunn advised shaking his head.  
  
"But..."  
  
Buffy stared hard at Wesley and Cordelia until they seemed inclined to be quiet, she flashed Gunn a grin and stepped towards Angel, "Angel, in answer to your question, I accidentally saw a little of your research materials, asked a friend to do some research of his own and I made a few little deductions, then I listened on the stairs for ages just now to see if my suspicions were right, it seems that they were, so here I am waiting to be grafted into your crazy scheme."  
  
"Buffy, you can't get involved in this. Its too dangerous."  
  
"Danger is my middle name," she winked at Gunn, "well actually it's Anne but y' know what I mean. I'm a big girl and I can handle this." She pulled the crossbow from under her coat while still keeping the sword hidden. "I fancy myself to be a pretty good shot with this." She eyed Angel as he took in the black metal of the crossbow with the delicate wisps of silver on it and realization hit him.  
  
"You?" he murmured.  
  
"Me. And, by the way I didn't hear you complaining about my intervention then!"  
  
"You were Angel's mystery helper?" Gasped Wesley.  
  
Buffy nodded, "Give the man a prize."  
  
"I don't understand, I mean you saw. What I am. Why didn't you kill me?"  
  
"That's not who you are though right?"  
  
Angel looked mystified. Buffy groaned and dragged out her sword and pointed it at him.  
  
Gunn sniggered. Fred looked on wide-eyed as she clutched his arm.  
  
"Listen up and listen good, cos I'm only gonna say all this once. You're a vampire, big whoop. I don't care. My best friend is a Wicca and she turned my hair green the other day, her usually taciturn boyfriend is a werewolf who has to be chained up three nights a month because he thinks we're all nice cuts of meat. My other best friend was once possessed by malevolent hyena spirits and went all feral and has dated a giant praying mantis and an ancient Incan mummy girl that sucked people's life forces. He's now heavily involved with a sex obsessed ex-vengeance demon. My brother is a half demon and it took me ages to figure it out, but when I did it didn't matter cos I love him anyway. Angel, believe me when I say that you being a vampire doesn't particularly matter, it's not what you are but who you are that counts, besides I have enough very odd people in my life for one more weirdo to make no difference, I seem to be collecting them."  
  
She looked at five very bemused faces and lowered the sword she had been waggling at Angel, "What?"  
  
"Wow!" muttered Cordelia, "somebody has issues."  
  
"Yeah, well you'd have issues if you were me. Angel will you promise not to freak if I tell you something."  
  
Angel nodded, she knew what he was and she was still talking to him, this was going almost too well.  
  
"Maybe I should sit on you or something, chain you up perhaps." Buffy looked at him worriedly.  
  
"Spit it out." Wesley advised.  
  
"Well, I'm the slayer." She cringed and waited for the explosion, or the screaming sprint away from her. Instead nothing came, that was almost worse.  
  
"Damn." She heard Gunn and Wesley mutter together.  
  
"The slayer?" Angel managed to gulp out as he turned away and began walking towards the library. He was in love with a woman who was technically his archenemy. Fate had a really bizarre sense of humour sometimes. He threw himself into his favourite chair feeling unsure whether he should be rejoicing or brooding. She knew about vampires and wasn't scared by them but unfortunately she was also the slayer. Big stumbling block; massive in fact. He sat staring into space until a few minutes later when Buffy entered the room looking upset.  
  
"Angel?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Do you hate me? Cause I kinda figured we'd have a lot in common,"  
  
That got his attention, "I don't hate you Buffy. But I'm a vampire and you're a vampire slayer."  
  
"I think we already established that," she returned pertly. "Angel I just figured that you don't really fit into the evil demon world and I don't really fit into the normal human world and we both fight the same war. Plus I thought we got on pretty well when it was just us with no slayer or vampire labels."  
  
"Speaking of Doyle we should."  
  
"Two days until the stars align remember? A few more minutes won't kill him; you're not wiggling away just yet. I want us to be friends Angel, to go back to how we were before we learned each other's secrets."  
  
"Speaking of secrets Buffy, you don't know what I've done in my past. If you knew, you wouldn't want to be around me."  
  
"So tell me?" Buffy settled herself firmly opposite him. "Explain."  
  
Angel did. He told her everything he could think of that could possibly scare her off but she sat listening, prodding and absorbing the story of his sordid life before his soul.  
  
Then when he looked up at her expecting to see disgust and revulsion in her eyes he saw only sadness. He was unprepared for her to stand up looking furious. "It wasn't your fault Angel, none of it. What the demon did has nothing to do with you and the only reason you feel remorse for those acts is because of your soul. That part that makes you the man you are wasn't even there when those acts were committed. So don't waste time beating yourself up about things you had no control over."  
  
Angel stared.  
  
"So are you going to be friends with me or what?"  
  
Angel smiled slightly; she was nothing if not persistent.  
  
Angel steeled himself, she did have a point, but to be friends wasn't exactly what he wanted despite everything. "Okay, I can be friends with the slayer." He flashed a faint smile at her.  
  
She rolled her eyes, "Friends." She said a little sadly.  
  
Then she brightened, "So lets get this crazy show on the road and get Doyle back where he belongs."  
  
Angel nodded his agreement and followed her across the room. Had her voice been ever so slightly strained as she agreed to be friends? She didn't have to be friends with him though, could there be another reason? He dismissed the stray thought impatiently, she was the slayer and she knew the worst of him and still wanted to be his friend, it was so much more than he deserved.  
  
"You guys ready?" he heard Gunn holler.  
  
"Yeah!" he returned.  
  
"Lets go!" whooped Fred as she, Gunn, Cordelia and Wesley comically charged up the steps together laughingly brandishing their weapons. 


	23. Lets do it

Thank you all very much for the reviews!  
  
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Buffy and Angel were striding across to the doorway when they heard Cordelia yelp and Wesley start apologizing. They broke into a run as Fred and Gunn ducked back inside looking worried. "Think we scared some would-be clients." Grunted Gunn, still twirling his axe as Fred nodded and tried to hide the sword she carried.  
  
Buffy sniggered, "Think we could convince them that we're demented actors practising for a play?"  
  
Gunn snorted at this as one of the people they had scared pushed through the door, apparently not very scared after all.  
  
"Buffy, what are you about?" grumbled Giles resettling his heap of books more comfortably under his arm.  
  
Buffy looked innocent as she stepped forwards to hug Giles, "It's my fault huh? I told you my brother's friends were weird."  
  
"Buffster!" yelled Xander as he plowed through the doors to crush her into a bear hug along with the axe and spiked pole he carried.  
  
Buffy hugged him eagerly, narrowly avoiding losing an eye on the pole before turning excitedly to Willow, Oz and Anya who had just piled through the door.  
  
"Will," she sighed happily as she threw her arms around her friend before withdrawing swiftly again. She peered at the brown sack cradled in Willow's arms, "Can I just say yuck and what on earth is that stench?"  
  
Willow smiled shyly, "Hey Buffy, me and Anya made it on the way here."  
  
"Oz's van will probably never smell the same." Commented Xander. "It put me right off the pizza we brought, probably contaminated it."  
  
"No it didn't, you ate it." Anya told him firmly as she tucked her hand through his arm.  
  
"But what is it?" Buffy demanded, eyeing the parcel suspiciously.  
  
Angel moved to stand next to her giving the bundle an equally suspicious look.  
  
Willow's mouth promptly flopped open and moved noiselessly. Buffy smiled slightly, she could sympathise with Willow; Angel still made her feel like that quite frequently and she was used to him.  
  
Giles unwittingly saved Willow from floundering any longer when he dropped his bundle of books onto a table and cleared his throat noisily. "I'm very sorry to burst in like this."  
  
"But it's urgent!" Xander chirped, waving his spiky pole with dangerous enthusiasm.  
  
"Yes, thank you Xander." Muttered Giles. "Buffy, when I spoke to you earlier I didn't have the chance to explain to you the best way to kill a Quaazberoon demon and I hadn't yet found a good method of distraction enabling you to stop the ritualistic slaughter of half-bloods with less hard fighting."  
  
"Willow's stinky parcel is the distraction," Xander supplied helpfully.  
  
"Well it's working," grunted Gunn, "I feel distracted already."  
  
"We all got out of bed and came straight here to help. Even though Buffy was going to call Giles and tell him if he was actually needed." Anya chipped in. "We could have been sleeping or having sex, not making bad smelling distractions."  
  
Xander blushed and tried to make himself small as Gunn and Cordelia snickered good-naturedly.  
  
Buffy smiled and spoke over the chuckles, "So you guys deprived yourselves of sleep and broke all the speed limits to bring me some extra stinky stink- bombs?"  
  
Angel couldn't resist a smile at Buffy's interaction with her friends. Just from her very brief description of them earlier it was clear which one was which. He wrinkled his nose, but he wished they would explain why they were carrying something that smelt so bad.  
  
"Hormones." Willow said suddenly and Oz nodded in agreement.  
  
"Huh?" Buffy looked confused.  
  
"The smell is much the same as the ones the Quaazberoon demons produce during, uh mating season." Giles polished his glasses vigorously, "So it should produce a momentary distraction, enabling us to kill some of their number and free the potential victims of their ritual. If they have inadequate numbers of either themselves or prepared victims they will not be able to perform the ritual."  
  
"The victims take three days to prepare I believe?" Wesley added as he moved to take a look at Giles' books.  
  
Buffy looked horrified, "I'm gonna be fighting horny demons?!"  
  
Angel felt his own mouth droop open, "What?"  
  
They exchanged horrified glances.  
  
Buffy flushed and began, "But what if." She looked to Angel for help.  
  
".The demons get."  
  
".A bit."  
  
".Confused?" he finished.  
  
"Well, confusing the demons is the object of the exercise is it not?" Giles murmured as he eagerly showed an interested Wesley the book he had discovered most of his information in.  
  
Buffy looked at Angel a little desperately and edged towards him as he edged towards her. They stood hip to hip eyeing the package in horror, trying vainly to explain what they meant.  
  
Finally Gunn seemed to get it too and began howling with laughter. Through chuckles he managed to snort out an explanation that only the nearby Xander and Anya heard. Xander began laughing too but the ever-straightforward Anya shrugged her shoulders, "I think the big heroic pair are just worried the demons are gonna hump their legs or something."  
  
"Uh, no, provided the manufactured hormone smells aren't released directly onto a human there shouldn't be a problem at all." Giles murmured looking embarrassed.  
  
"Ingenious," murmured Wesley, "I studied this of course but putting that information to this use is really very interesting..."  
  
Ignoring Wesley and Giles' learned conversation Buffy and Angel both relaxed, Buffy heaved a sigh of relief and put out a hand to squeeze Angel's. Warm fingers met cool with an electric charge. Momentarily oblivious to anyone else in the room they savoured the contact.  
  
They didn't relax for long though, "Big heroic pair?" questioned Giles suddenly, peering at Anya.  
  
"Well yeah, ever since Angelus got his soul back with a gypsy curse he's been a big softy. Now he helps people. But I suppose the council wouldn't be interested in stuff like that, they live to kill us demons." She ranted.  
  
"You're not a demon anymore though honey." Xander reminded her.  
  
"I remember what it was like though." Retorted Anya. "I could've fixed the whole watcher's council with a few good hexes in the old days, but they were all too stuffy to date, let alone wrong some women. Hmm, but I probably still could hex them with a bit of effort."  
  
"Giles is on the watchers council remember?" Xander warned.  
  
"Hmpff."  
  
Buffy hastily let go of Angel's hand and stepped in front of him, plastering her body to his. "Anya's right, Angel is a hero. He's on the home team Giles I promise. He doesn't even wig me out like all other vampires do so he's got to be okay."  
  
"Vampire!" Squawked Xander dropping the axe on his foot in dismay.  
  
"Shut up honey, he's a good guy." Anya told him calmly in a voice that dared him to argue.  
  
Xander recalled Anya's loathing for demon discrimination and quietly swore as he hopped briefly in pain before scooping up his axe and curling an arm around her in obedient silence.  
  
Giles gawped at his slayer; she seemed to be attempting to protect a vampire; one that was staring down at her.adoringly? Giles polished his glasses again. He trusted Buffy's judgement - mostly. But a slayer being friendly with a vampire, it was unheard of. He shook his head in bewilderment, "Alright Buffy. I believe you. It's just very.odd."  
  
Buffy grinned from her position against Angel's chest. "Tell me about it. I used to think the day I liked a vampire would be the day hell froze over, but it doesn't seem to have happened and Angel is a really good friend now."  
  
Fred and Cordelia exchanged glances, "She so more than likes him as a friend." Muttered Cordelia.  
  
Fred nodded enthusiastically in agreement. "Definitely."  
  
Gunn sidled up to stand beside her, "Definitely what?" he hissed at his girlfriend.  
  
"Oh, those two." Cordelia waved an airy hand, "Don't you think they'd make a cute couple?"  
  
Gunn snorted, "Hardly. It's weird enough that they're not busy killing each other, now you want them mushy?"  
  
Cordelia rolled her eyes, "Men are so blind, even two-hundred plus ones. Look at them."  
  
Gunn obediently did as he was told and even through his alleged man- blindness he could see how lovingly Buffy looked at Angel, how she stood as close as she could as she argued Angel's case with her watcher. How Angel gazed down at her with an expression that could only be described as soppy. He recalled Buffy's comment about liking one of her brother's friends, "Okay, maybe." He conceded.  
  
Then Wesley interrupted the quiet exchange with a cough, "Now we have more people and an additional surprise element to use against the demons, perhaps we should consider revising our plan."  
  
Buffy grinned, "We don't need to change that much, I join Angel's part of the plan. Everyone else goes with you Wes, with the addition of Will's stinky stuff. If you guys go in the front entrance and she releases that just a moment before Angel and I attack from another direction it should work pretty well, then you guys follow up and free the hostages while me and Angel destroy all things hostile. With all nine of you armed and sticking close together you should be able to make a pretty impressive impact and get Doyle to safety."  
  
Wesley eyed her for a moment before nodding abruptly, "Lets do it."  
  
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Yay! The Scooby gang made it to LA for the big finish! Am I good or am I good?! 


	24. Waiting

I said I'd get this all finished in two weeks didn't I? Oops, don't think I can manage that now but this should still get finished within two or three days, only a little bit late. The four days last week when I couldn't post anything made me so mad I couldn't write properly so I got all off schedule. Thank you all for continuing to review despite my tardiness; it is much appreciated.  
  
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For such an unusually large crew of eleven they left the Hyperion surprisingly quietly and began walking up the street towards the lair of the Quaazberoon demons.  
  
"The impudence of it." Wesley was heard to mutter to Giles as they straggled to a stop barely a thousand yards away from the Hyperion.  
  
"Yes, quite." Grumbled Giles in hearty agreement.  
  
"Well, this should be it." Angel murmured. "Best of luck everyone, I'll see you all later." He shook hands with Gunn, hugged Cordelia and Fred together before turning to Wes to shake hands and slap him on the back. Then he walked to the nearby fire escape and began climbing. Buffy grabbed all her friends in hasty embraces and speedily followed Angel.  
  
The rest of the two gangs began walking again for a few more yards until they reached a large set of double doors. "Here goes nothing," muttered Xander clutching his pole firmly.  
  
Gunn nodded as he juggled his axe from hand to hand, "Makes you wonder why you put yourself through it."  
  
Xander grinned, "The chicks dig it."  
  
"Quiet please." Grumbled two British voices.  
  
Willow clutched Oz's hand and smiled reassuringly at a terrified looking Cordelia. She was Doyle's girlfriend Buffy had filled her in on the short walk. The girl reminded her strongly of the gorgeous, popular cheerleader types she had been victimised by at High school but Willow generously leant forward to whisper, "If Angel is half as good as Buffy they'll have Doyle free in no time. I've seen her pull off some totally amazing stuff over the years."  
  
Cordelia grimaced, "Thanks, I'm sure it'll be okay, I just want this over now. All this plotting and hanging around is making me sick."  
  
"Actually that would probably be the stinky bundle," cracked Xander making her smile slightly. Before he subsided under the icy glares shot at him by Wesley and Giles. "Why do I get shushed and nobody else?" he grumped to Anya who stood beside him.  
  
She shrugged and kissed him, "You can be loud later with me because I would like to be loud later with you." She offered enticingly as she snuggled against him.  
  
Xander glared at Gunn as he chuckled at Anya's forthright statement. "Like I said, the chicks dig it."  
  
For a while the group lapsed into silence until Wesley spoke.  
  
"It's time," he said softly and the jokes and handholding were abandoned in favour of concentration and tight grips on weaponry. 


	25. On the roof

Angel reached the roof and leant over to give Buffy a hand up, not that she needed it but still, any excuse to be near her.  
  
She accepted his help with a sweet smile and allowed him to lift her over the edge of the building. She weighed next to nothing Angel marvelled, how could she possibly be a great warrior when she was like thistledown? She made the few other slayers he had ever encountered look like hulking brutes, which they kind of had been.  
  
Buffy smiled at him as he lowered her to the roof and reluctantly let go, "Guess it'll be show time soon Angel, and we get to see how good a team we make and hope my brother doesn't die of heart failure when we charge in to rescue him together."  
  
Angel returned the smile, "Yeah and hope Willow's science experiment does what it says on the label, nothing more nothing less."  
  
Buffy smothered a giggle, "That was so funny, us politely trying to explain our doubts and Anya just plumps out her x-rated explanation. Ugh, I am so not looking forward to this though. I think I'd rather just go in and beat them up."  
  
Angel grinned widely, "It was pretty funny and the way she shut Xander up was entertaining too. All your friends seem really nice even if they do help come up with plans I could probably live without."  
  
Buffy beamed, "They're all one of a kind that's for sure. Same as your friends really."  
  
"Gunn seemed to know you," Angel commented neutrally, trying to ignore the faint squirming of jealousy as he wondered what Buffy and Gunn had been or worse, were to each other.  
  
"Oh, yeah. That's a long story that we can tell later, basically I introduced him to vampire hunting."  
  
Angel frowned, "I thought that was a girl called Anne." Then his brain belatedly made the connections, "Oh, you're Anne?"  
  
Buffy nodded and Angel was relieved, he knew the story of Anne and what she had been to Gunn. Not a lover that was for sure.  
  
Buffy edged towards the skylight they planned to enter through and peeked in to see a few demons walking about below. "Ung, they look like the really nasty dinosaurs in Jurassic park, only smaller."  
  
Angel looked at her blankly.  
  
"When do we go in?" she whispered.  
  
Angel knelt beside her and tested the skylight; it wasn't locked. He glanced at his watch, "little over eight minutes." He replied softly, "Wes decided to give us a good margin to make sure we were in place and could get in okay."  
  
"Smart man," Buffy murmured taking a step back out of sight from anything below and leaning against the low wall that ran around the rooftop. Angel followed suit and leant against the wall beside her, not quite touching her, but close.  
  
Buffy's heart sped up and began hammering wildly. She still couldn't get a handle on herself even with all the time she spent with him. Should she just blurt her feelings out right now? Hesitating hadn't won her the guy before and they had no secrets between them now except precisely how they felt about each other and from what little she had overheard of Cordelia's conversation to Fred on the way Angel felt the same way about her as she did about him.  
  
Angel shifted uncomfortably beside her; then he turned to her, "Look, Buffy if I make you that nervous I can go and stand somewhere else."  
  
Interrupted from her daze the only thing Buffy could persuade to come out of her mouth was "Huh?"  
  
Angel sighed heavily, "Your heart is acting as if it's going to jump out of your chest; clearly I make you nervous because I'm a vampire, which is understandable." He shuffled away, "I'll just stand over here."  
  
Buffy flushed scarlet, he could hear her heart slamming away? How embarrassing. Wait a minute! He was running away because he thought she couldn't deal with him being a vampire. Idiot!  
  
Buffy stalked Angel across the roof to where he stood with his back to her, "I suppose it doesn't occur to you I might be nervous around you for other reasons." she growled.  
  
He stubbornly kept his back to her, "what other reasons could there possibly be?" he said bitterly.  
  
Buffy shuffled closer to him and got a firm grip on his elbow so she could spin him round to face her, it wasn't easy but she managed it. When Angel finally faced her she looked up at him. "Angel, I am not scared of you okay?"  
  
Angel snorted, "Yeah, sure."  
  
"But I was scared because I wanted to do this," she declared as she stood on her toes, reached up and softly pressed her lips to his.  
  
For a moment Angel froze but then he placed a steadying hand on the small of her back, burrowed his other hand into her golden tresses and returned her kiss with all the pent-up longing he had gathered over the past few days.  
  
Buffy moaned against his mouth and wound her arms around his neck, dragging him closer. She pressed her breasts against his chest and sucked on his sensuous lower lip. Moments later she found herself pressed backwards and ended up perched on the wall with Angel standing between her thighs, her face cupped in his large, capable hands as her kissed her with a more intense passion than she could ever have imagined.  
  
Angel had started kissing her as gently as he could but when she moved so eagerly against him he had backed her up against the wall to kiss her more deeply. He kissed her again and again, unable to touch her enough. He stroked his fingers over the contours of her beautiful face, revelling in the beauty before him, the beauty that unbelievably wanted to kiss him. Buffy couldn't get Angel close enough and frantically grabbed his hips to pull him nearer, before letting her exploring fingers wander up his back, her fingers rubbing over smooth muscle as their mouths clung together.  
  
When they finally broke their explosive kiss Buffy was panting, her lips swollen and Angel looked far from calm, his hair even more ruffled than usual from where Buffy had raked her fingers through it.  
  
They gazed at each other in awe for a few moments before Buffy recovered sufficiently to gasp out, "When this is over, you and I so need to talk about this."  
  
"Agreed." Angel managed as he helped her down from the wall. "I'm sorry. About the wall part I mean if I came on a bit um, heavy."  
  
Buffy grinned, "Hey, I jumped on you!"  
  
"True," Angel admitted before shooting her a cheeky glance, "and I look forward to the next time you do it," He paused worriedly, "You will do it again right?"  
  
Buffy moved towards the skylight and drew her sword, "Try and stop me!" she said with a saucy smile.  
  
Angel drew his own sword and grinned at her, "We've got twenty seconds, how about one for luck?"  
  
Buffy briefly pressed her still kiss-swollen lips to his before they opened the skylight together. 


	26. Misdirection

Thank you to everyone who reviewed.  
  
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Buffy and Angel slowly crept in through the skylight, none of the brown and scaly demons bustling about below noticed them as they inched their way along a beam, heading for a walkway a few yards away. They reached it and crouched as low as they could, hopefully out of sight, there was no reason for any to look up though so Buffy and Angel remained unnoticed.  
  
Moments after they had reached cover the main doors below crashed open and a few nearby demons spun to face the threat but before they had readied themselves for assault Wes strode through the broken doors, a crossbow gripped in each hand. He fired each in quick succession, both bolts felling nearby demons. Then as he let the bows drop and dangle on their straps Gunn and Giles followed him into the room, weapons poised in readiness. The rest of the team trailed them in, taking up flanking positions around Wes who had by now exchanged his crossbows for a sword and was slicing viciously at any demon which came too close.  
  
The fight commenced with a violence that had Buffy wincing and almost standing up to rush to assist, only Angel's gentle restraining hand stopped her.  
  
"Give them a moment." He muttered tensely.  
  
Just as he was about to agree with Buffy and rush into the fight Willow ran forward between Wes and Xander who held positions to protect her from the onslaught of demons and slid the bag across the floor towards a large cluster of demons in the middle of the room. Wes coolly drew a gun from his belt and deliberately emptied the entire clip into the bag causing a thick red smoke to ooze from it and settle hazily around the room.  
  
Chaos ensued as demons abruptly ceased fighting and made a dash for what little was left of the bag. Even without actively fighting the demons managed to cause damage to their opponents as they lumbered excitedly across the room managing to sweep Oz, Fred and Giles to the floor. The demons the trio had thought they were about to finish off had charged right through them; almost impaling themselves on the weapon blades they had so carefully been avoiding moments earlier.  
  
Gunn dragged an uninjured Fred to her feet as Oz and Giles scrambled upright looking slightly dazed, "That stuff must be real good shit!" he grunted.  
  
The rest of the gang nodded in bewildered agreement.  
  
"Think we made it too strong?" asked Willow with a wince as two demons ran full pelt into each other with a smack of flesh and crack of bone.  
  
Xander surveyed the chaotic scene, "Nah. If they keep that up all we'll have to do is grab Doyle and maybe a light clean-up."  
  
Then they scattered as another demon almost crashed into them, thrown back from the crowd.  
  
"Yeah, too strong." Grunted Xander.  
  
"Uh huh," agreed Cordelia mildly as she used her sword to skewer the demon as it slid dazedly to her feet. She stepped back disgustedly, "Ugh, it bled on my shoe."  
  
Buffy and Angel had leapt up the moment the haze had begun to roll; this was their cue. They pounded down a few stairs, swung over the balcony and dropped to the floor, rolling over to break their falls before leaping up with their swords ready. As one they charged at the trampling, snorting mass of demon bodies, pushing forward until they were near the epicentre of the obnoxious odour the demons clearly found irresistible. Slowly they began driving many of the now confused demons back as they hacked and slashed at those nearest. A few demons fought back, but many seemed too dazed to muster more than feeble resistance.  
  
Once Buffy and Angel had virtually every demon in the place surrounding them and what was left of the bag. Wes waved back the rest of the team and they all sprinted un-challenged across the room towards a heavy iron door, beyond which they felt sure Doyle and the other prisoners were being held.  
  
Xander and Gunn began battering the door in turn, while the rest of the team formed a semi-circle around them, fighting off the few demons that had abandoned the bag and weren't attacking Buffy and Angel. They hammered ferociously at the hinges and lock to no avail. Eventually Cordelia elbowed them aside and inserted a nail file and hairpin into the lock, twenty seconds later the lock snicked open. By which time many of the demons had recovered their senses and were now whole-heartedly attacking Buffy and Angel and were also just beginning to divide their attack between Buffy and Angel and the rest of Doyle's would-be rescuers.  
  
"We are so in trouble." Moaned Fred as more and more demons began attacking the group clustered in the doorway.  
  
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Hmm, I'm not really the best at writing fight scenes but I hope this bit didn't suck too badly. If anyone has any helpful suggestions for improvement on my fight scene writing skills I would appreciate it. 


	27. Found

Cordelia sprinted along a narrow corridor with Gunn and Fred close behind her; there was no sign of her boyfriend just yet but they had to find him soon. They had already tangled with four demonic guards, after that Gunn had offered to go in front but with the fury Cordelia was feeling she could probably take on a dozen of the nasties without so much as breaking a nail.  
  
She came to the end of the passageway and looked left and right, around each corner she saw a welcome sight, cages. Big ones. With bolts on the doors, unreachable from the inside, no problemo from the outside. Now she just had to find the right cage before she let anything else out. After all not all half-demons were necessarily nice ones. She hurried left as Gunn and Fred rushed off to the right.  
  
"Delia darlin." Groaned a familiar voice about half-way along the row of cages, "Am I glad to see you."  
  
"Doyle!" Cordelia joyfully flung herself at the bolt of his door and dragged it back, "Guys, I got him." She screeched; moments later she was snuggled tightly into his arms.  
  
The others raced back as fast as they could, "Good to have you back man." Said Gunn giving Doyle a slap on the back, "Should we let out some of these other guys do you think?"  
  
Doyle nodded his agreement, "I've been talking to some of them, and I think they're all okay."  
  
Gunn acknowledged the statement with a brief nod, "Yeah, we might as well totally screw up the dumb-ass ritual." He marched back down the corridor casually flipping back bolts, Fred scuttled after him.  
  
Doors started to creak open and an odd assortment of demons began sticking their noses, beaks and snouts around their cell doors. "Its okay," Doyle assured them as he walked past, "We're escaping."  
  
At that multitudes of different demons began to spill out of the cages to hurry towards the exit. 


	28. Go Team!

Buffy booted another demon carcass to one side, wiped a trickle of perspiration from her forehead and sized up her next opponent. She and Angel were kicking some serious butt but the dozy demons just kept on coming. Their combined friends weren't doing too badly either. Giles and Wes certainly seemed to have struck up some kind of British union and were neatly covering each other's backs as they did battle with enthusiasm.  
  
A clawed hand whistled a little too close to her face and she leapt back to dodge it, giving Angel a grateful grin as he sliced off the offending limb before springing sideways to avoid a thick spiky tail being swept in his direction, Buffy smirked; time to repay the favour already. She brought her sword down on the tail that lay wriggling on the floor for a few moments even after she had severed it. "Eeeww."  
  
Angel rolled under a hefty swipe from a very pissed off demon and groaned as he got flicked by a lashing tail. "Damn, where is Cordy?" he groaned clutching his ribs.  
  
Buffy leapt in front of him to parry yet another assault from the same demon, giving him time to leap to his feet again. "Dunno." She grumbled back, "But she doesn't get Doyle out soon I'll-"  
  
The sound of pounding feet interrupted the beginnings of Buffy's rant and suddenly a few dozen fairly human looking demons of different shapes and colours loped across the room and streaked out of the door. The Quaazberoon demons paused to set up a high-pitched howl as they watched their tickets to greatness go bolting off down the street.  
  
Buffy watched the demon half-breeds go with a small smirk. She leant towards Angel to joke; "They'll all be three states away within the hour!" Angel grinned as he scrambled over a corpse to stand next to her. "I'm betting on four states in half an hour."  
  
Suddenly the yowls of fury stopped and the demons launched an attack more ferocious than before, Buffy and Angel were driven back by the sheer unexpectedness of it and were sent crashing to the ground under the weight of several demons. Buffy dropped her sword and Angel's arm was pinned in such a manner that he couldn't use his.  
  
"Oh no, Buffy! She heard Willow scream before the world started to get a little fuzzy round the edges.  
  
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Sorry for the shortness of the update, I didn't have much time today, hopefully I will do better tomorrow; well, there'll be an update of some description tomorrow anyway! 


	29. Explanations

Sorry guys, I did try to post yesterday but couldn't even get onto the site, grr. I really lived up to my pen name when I kept getting 'The gateway timed out, the server is as dead as a damn dodo' messages! Why does this always happen when I'm desperate to post?!  
  
Anyway, I'm nearing the end with this fic now, thank you all for being a great audience and not making with the flames, and an extra huge thank you for all the encouraging and helpful reviews I've had.  
  
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"Buffy!" yelled Doyle in dismay as he watched Angel and his tiny sister body-slammed by several enormous lizards, "What the hell is she doing here?"  
  
"Long story." Said Cordelia as she tossed him a sword and struck out with her own. "She can hold her own though."  
  
Doyle clutched the sword and looked disbelievingly from his girlfriend to the pile of demons clambering over his kid sister. "No way, I know she gets into fights at school but demons are entirely different."  
  
Before Cordelia had a chance to stop him he plowed across the room and sank his sword into the rump of one of the demons flattening Buffy. The demon yowled, leapt up and staggered away. Doyle was about ready to repeat the performance when a dainty hand appeared through a gap the demon had left with a stake clutched tight in it's fingers. A spilt second later the stake was buried deep in a demon's flank. Doyle blinked in surprise as the demon jolted a little and then didn't move again. Doyle gave another demon some serious encouragement with his blade and it finally shifted off the heap. He employed the same technique on a few more of the demons and moments later Buffy and Angel crawled from under the now much smaller pile of seemingly dead demons looking somewhat the worse for wear.  
  
"Why did I wear this coat?" grumbled Buffy, "I like this coat, stupid demons." She looked up in surprise, "Doyle!" she squealed joyfully. "You're all rescued and not dead, this is such good thing!"  
  
Doyle smiled in relief and amazement; Angel crawling out from under that pile more or less unscathed wasn't exactly a shocker but Buffy-  
  
Then she sidestepped him and launched a spinning roundhouse kick that connected with a sharp cracking sound, her target's neck snapped and the demon thudded to the ground dead.  
  
Doyle's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. He'd known Buffy to have violent tendencies on occasion but to see her break a demon's neck with a single kick was a little too much to handle.  
  
"Try to kill my brother huh?" Buffy sneered at the dead demon as she retrieved her sword, "That's what you get!"  
  
Then she sprang towards one of the few remaining demons and brought her sword crashing down on its head, Doyle winced and watched with sickened fascination as the skull split and a tiny blob of stuff flopped out and lay wobbling on the floor.  
  
Buffy peered at it, "Eew! Teensy weensy Jell-O brains!" she sang triumphantly before skipping back to where Angel and Doyle stood. She flung her arms round Doyle and planted a kiss on his cheek.  
  
"Welcome back!" she cheered before releasing him and bounding towards Angel and leaping into his arms.  
  
Angel staggered slightly as Buffy clambered on him, flinging her arms around his neck and hooking her legs around his hips like a monkey. "Are we the team or what?" she chirped happily.  
  
Angel grinned back at her recalling how smoothly and comfortably they had fought together, "We were great."  
  
Buffy beamed at him with pleasure and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before they became aware that they were the focus of attention in the room.  
  
"What?" they said defensively as Buffy self consciously slithered back onto the ground.  
  
Willow shot Buffy a cheeky grin and a subtle little thumbs up before trying to drag Oz and Xander out of the door. She was having trouble with Xander until she said the magic words, "C'mon guys, lets go get some Pizza."  
  
"Ice cream too?" checked Xander hopefully before he grabbed a protesting Anya and followed.  
  
"But I wanted to watch." Grumbled Anya allowing herself to be pulled along.  
  
"Watch what?!" Xander asked as they left the room.  
  
Giles and Wesley strolled off companionably together mumbling something about a nice cup of tea and a few biscuits.  
  
Gunn held out a hand to Fred and they dashed after the others. "Think we can get Tacos?" Asked Fred as they hurried out of the door.  
  
Only Buffy, Angel, Doyle and Cordelia remained.  
  
Buffy drew a deep breath and rushed into speech, "Its okay Doyle, I'm cool with the whole Angel's a vampire thing and I know you're a demon too, which is also cool cos I've been doing loads of reading lately about how some demons are harmless and I know you're like a harmless human/Brakken demon hybrid. You also don't need to worry about me slaying you because I'm a cool, new-agey, forward thinking type of slayer and my watcher isn't all 'It's a demon, you must slay it!' so you really don't need to panic, I can tell the difference between evil and non-evil." She paused thoughtfully, "Well usually anyway. There were a few teachers at high-school I wasn't really sure of."  
  
Doyle remained speechless.  
  
Angel stumbled into speech too when it became clear Doyle wasn't about to speak, "Yeah, Buffy's really not a typical slayer or I wouldn't have fallen in love with her-" Angel winced at his slip of the tongue.  
  
Buffy's face lit up, "You love me?" she said wonderingly.  
  
Angel gazed down at her and nodded slowly, unsure of her reaction.  
  
Buffy screeched and flung herself into his arms again, smothering his face with kisses.  
  
Cordelia stared wide-eyed and Doyle finally found his voice, "Not to put a damper on this happy moment but didn't you guys only meet a few days ago?"  
  
"Uh, yeah." Admitted Buffy, still clinging to Angel.  
  
"And you're the slayer, and he's a vampire?"  
  
"Uh, yeah." Buffy said in a tiny voice.  
  
Doyle shook his head bemusedly and turned to his girlfriend, "What else did I miss? Alien landings perhaps?"  
  
Cordelia smiled, "Nope, this is pretty much it."  
  
Doyle nodded thankfully and turned back to his friend and sister, "I don't get it, but if you're both happy, I guess that's the main thing."  
  
Buffy beamed at him, finally letting go of Angel to exchange a hug with Doyle again.  
  
Then Doyle hugged a still worried looking Angel, "Don't look so worried man, I'm not about to stake you. If you make my little slayer sis this happy I don't think I'll chance it!"  
  
Angel flashed him a wary but grateful smile.  
  
Doyle turned, slung an arm round Cordelia's shoulders and they began to walk away.  
  
Then Doyle stopped and looked back, "But if you ever hurt her-"  
  
Angel nodded, "You will stake me, I get it."  
  
Doyle grinned to show he was kidding, "Nah, I'll spit in your dust though, she'll have probably beaten me to the actual staking."  
  
"Doyle!" whined Buffy, clutching Angel's arm.  
  
"Okay, okay! Seriously, I really hope this works out for you both. You're both big enough and ugly enough to decide what it is you want." Doyle grinned and began walking again.  
  
"Thanks Doyle." Angel called after him.  
  
Doyle nodded amiably in response.  
  
Buffy watched as her brother and Cordelia left before turning to Angel, "Well that went well."  
  
"Yeah, I think."  
  
"You really love me?"  
  
"As crazy and sudden as it may seem I really do."  
  
"Guess we're both crazy people."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Buffy stepped closer to Angel and wrapped her arms around him, "I love you too."  
  
Angel smiled down at her in relief, an intense feeling of happiness swept over him and he scooped her up in his arms twirling her round and round pressing light kisses to her face and hair.  
  
Buffy laughed delightedly and kissed him back, dizzy with the spinning, even dizzier with happiness.  
  
When he finally set her down still holding her close she grinned up at him, "And to think only last week I was disgusted at having to come and stay with Doyle instead of having a cool summer with my friends."  
  
Angel grinned back, "You could have your friends too if you like. We could sort them all out rooms at the Hyperion and they could stay for a while."  
  
Buffy smiled up at her perfect new boyfriend in delight, "That is so sweet. That would be really great, thank you, thank you, thank you!"  
  
"No problem, anything that will make you smile."  
  
Buffy obliged with a beaming smile and Angel couldn't resist kissing her again.  
  
A few minutes later Angel drew back slightly, provoking a mew of displeasure from Buffy. "What are you stopping for?" she pouted.  
  
He dropped a kiss on her forehead and smiled, "Because I can think of better places to kiss you than a smelly deserted building full of demon corpses."  
  
Buffy looked around her, "I think a bomb could have gone off just now and I wouldn't have noticed, but now you mention it, a shower, clean clothes and some serious snuggling on a comfy sofa sounds very much more appealing than this.  
  
Angel grinned as they began to walk towards the door hand in hand, "Were you gonna kiss me that morning on the sofa?"  
  
Buffy blushed, "Maybe."  
  
"Only maybe?"  
  
She kissed him before she broke away and into a run, "I'm not saying a word about that!"  
  
Angel chased her laughing, "Where are you going?"  
  
"To have the fastest shower ever so we can have more snuggle time before we have to sleep!"  
  
"Sounds good, see you on the couch in thirty minutes?"  
  
Buffy paused on the steps of the Hyperion, listening to her friends and Angel's mingling harmoniously. She stretched up to give him a quick kiss, "Make it twenty."  
  
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I nearly ended this here but something told me I'd be unpopular if I did! I think I tied up most of the loose ends quite well but somehow this ending doesn't finish things off quite satisfactorily. An epilogue will be coming very soon, hopefully tomorrow but more probably the day after. (Server permitting!) 


	30. AN Please read!

Hi guys!  
  
I'm really sorry, but this isn't the long overdue epilogue I said I'd write ages ago. (Hangs head in shame) I couldn't seem to write something that I felt finished the story off nicely, no matter how many versions of it I wrote and not wanting to post anything lame I didn't post anything at all. Hmm. Anyway, I think it was the whole 'ending it' thing that was the problem as I still have quite a few ideas for this storyline and was stupidly trying to squish them all into the ending.  
  
So, before I get flamed to within an inch of my life I want to ask if another story (or two or maybe even three) would be okay? The sequel/second story would pick up from a little while after where I left off in 'Explanations.' Hope that sounds good!  
  
I've already started some rough drafting and will be working on the first chapters very soon.  
  
But before I go off and just write this whole thing I'd like to get an idea of if I'm going in the right direction with it.  
  
For example:  
  
How do you feel about the inclusion of Spike at some point in the story? Should he be evil, chipped or souled? Who might he be in love with? Buffy? Dru? Faith? Willow? Other?  
  
What about Wolfram and Hart? What about Lindsey? Should he be good or bad?  
  
How about Faith, Lorne, Jenny, Tara, Darla, Dru, Joyce, Riley, Professor Walsh and others? Should I include them? If so what should they be like?  
  
Which couples should stay together or split up? For example Willow and Oz? Should they stick together or should she get together with Tara? Maybe even Spike?!  
  
Angst? Fluff? Smut? Humor? What do you want to see more of? Or is the balance about right?  
  
Would you all be okay with the rating rising to R in a few places? Etc.  
  
Anyone with particularly strong feelings about any of these things or something else I haven't mentioned should e-mail me, I'd probably go with the majority vote, or if nobody e-mails me I'll just keep doing my own thang.  
  
Also, if there is anyone out there who has an idea for a plot, a scene or even just a line they'd like to see included and thinks I can do it justice - ask me to put it in. If I can make it fit my general story arc I will.  
  
Thanks for reading,  
  
Mad Kat. 


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